


if we knew the end

by Miyula



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Adding tags and characters as I go, Angst, Borderline gore, Fluff, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Platonic Relationships, Realistic Minecraft, Sad Ending, Slow Burn, Survival, slightly OOC, updates once a month
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:40:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 46,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26175862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miyula/pseuds/Miyula
Summary: It wasn't supposed to end like this.It wasn't supposed to 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 like this.From waking up in a biome as rare as time, to seeing the ferocious flying beast of the end thrice the size and covered in layers of thicker scales and purple-ish black grime.What happened?What had happened to have caused this?
Relationships: Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound/Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream/Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), GeorgeNotFound/Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 28
Kudos: 130





	1. unexpected beginning

**Author's Note:**

> hi!! its been ages, i know
> 
> as you can see, this is my first work in the dt fandom, and i really enjoyed writing this! tbh cant believe the first chapter ended up being this long, i really didnt see this coming
> 
> if youve read my other work, im sorry im not posting there anymore. ive explained it before, but i sort of lost interest for the time being, and, i honestly cant believe im saying this because i used to love to write those chapters, but with the lack of comments and response, and with everything else happening irl, im both burned out and sad. which is why i temporarily took a break and began working on other projects, one of them being this, so i really hope you guys enjoy this!!
> 
> let me know how i did and if you liked reading this in the comments! enjoyy

It wasn't supposed to end like this.

  
  


It wasn't supposed to  _ start _ like this.

  
  


From waking up in a biome as rare as time, to seeing the ferocious flying beast of the end thrice the size and covered in layers of thicker scales and purple-ish black grime.

  
  


What happened?

  
  


What had happened to have caused this?

  
  


They weren't prepared-  _ nothing _ could have prepared them enough for this.

  
  


The lush and rich, cold and ancient mushroom biome they first became conscious in at the start should have been the first and only red flag they needed to understand that the journey the three men were about to take would not be for the faint of heart.

  
  


The first one to wake was the oldest of them all.

  
  


A lad dressed in shades of blue, with predominant white glasses atop his soft brown hair, fingers trained in the shape of a bow; the classic difficult role of the archer he took between the three.

  
  


A man named George, who, despite his physical appearance or character, often held the team together with the few extra years he had under his belt. Not only protecting them from outsiders, but also from each other.

  
  


He knew he might not have been the most smart-on-the-spot, that role he'd assign to the middle man in terms of age, and he may not have been as fast as he would like, that he'd rightfully give to the youngest, but they all collectively knew that, without him, the team wouldn't even be together, would have split up the second they began as one.

  
  


He knew he held them together whenever conflict broke out, even when he was the one who started them or fueled them up. 

  
  


He was the wisest, the one who knew the most about books and scribbles written down in century long ink.

  
  


It was a rare talent, to be this balanced, a smart brain and equally strong 'big brother' pillar, his mood and tone a one eighty from his usual high pitched screams when fighting with the creatures of the deadly night, but he had it.

  
  


And they were glad he did.

  
  


As he sat up and scanned his area, George's eyes widened with every second.

  
  


Where  _ were they? _

  
  


A biome he'd definitely heard of before, yet never having witnessed it himself before him and around him.

  
  


The mighty and old mushroom biome.

  
  


With mushrooms as tall as trees themselves, going even as far as to replace them, the grass a certain lavender and visible cows in the distance painted crimson;

  
  


There was no doubt about it, for they were, in fact, stranded on an island they knew nothing about.

  
  


"Sapnap." He quietly whispered to his companion he awoke next to on the lilac field, grimacing when he felt the cold morning dew stick to his back and soak through, a most definitely uncomfortable shiver running down his spine.

  
  


" _ Sapnap. _ " He tried a little sterner, scoffing when he saw his friend not budge, clearly deep in a slumber of the sorts.

  
  


Sapnap was a force to be reckoned with.

  
  


Not as fierce as the older two, but strong enough to evoke fear.

  
  


His main colour scheme consisting of white, gray and black, he was both easy to spot and difficult to find given a certain situation.

  
  


Like the oldest, the youngest had a decoration adorning his head, his distinct white headband he wore everywhere, never once taking it off, never once forgetting and leaving it behind.

  
  


Often changing position to position, you could never identify what'd he'd get you with next. 

  
  


The boy being good with both melee and range, he was often interchangeable to ignite confusion and make their victory sweeter.

  
  


Being the youngest however, he was always the more plausible one to start conflicts and begin fights out of nowhere, whether intentionally or not.

  
  


He had too much of a large pride at times, refusing to go to any of the elder boys for help, especially the eldest, and nagging for no reason.

  
  


But he tried to be helpful more times than not as well; killing mobs, trading, farming, and more.

  
  


George walked away from the pile of two bodies on the purple grass, trying to see whether there was land nearby.

  
  


Yet all he could see was the ocean.

  
  


Checking the angle of the sun and the way the shadows were casted among the ground, like they always did, he determined it to be half past six in the morning. Right around the time those horrid creatures would start to burn.

  
  


Good, George thought, he didn’t want to deal with them currently either. 

  
  


Deciding that the island was small enough to not get lost, he deemed it safe to go exploring just a tad.

  
  


As George began walking towards the shore, hoping to see any land in the distance anew, he got curious.

  
  


Just how did mycelium  _ work _ , exactly?

  
  


Never having seen it nor touched it before, he heard legends saying the only way to get the magical grass was with enchantments.

  
  


Deciding to see if it was true, George bent down and picked at a patch, staring at long strands of weeds between his fingers and in his palm.

  
  


At first, nothing happened.

  
  


Then, within a blink of an eye, the grass shifted hue and contrast, before disintegrating and turning into dust.

  
  


So much for being useful.

  
  


His mind automatically supplied him with the fact that he was at, what he guessed was this biome's at least, beach; the view unusually calm and peaceful with the way the rising sun hit him head on. Having sunglasses was never more convenient.

  
  


George basked in the light for a few minutes more; his comrades were sleeping, it was early morning, there was no rush, who could blame him for wanting a breather?

  
  


That is, until he heard something rustle against the grass right behind him.

  
  


His instincts forced him to turn around and grab his sword, since he registered the sound too close for shooting arrows, before realizing that he didn't have either of them.

  
  


Lifting his eyes up, he expected anything; the only biome-like creature he knew of was the mooshroom, but what if the books were wrong?

  
  


Or worse, hiding obvious dangers on the islands?

  
  


He felt a scream bubble up his throat, not just because he was suddenly terrified out of his mind, but to hopefully wake his friends up as well to come help.

  
  


Though, his mouth got covered with the palm of a hand and squashed in a hug of something green before he realized that this position was oddly familiar with how giant the thing before him was.

  
  


Of course.

  
  


Dream.

  
  


The referred middle man in age. No doubt the most reckless and most smartest of them all when it came to escaping or trapping or something of the sort, but definitely the most annoying with the way he made those dangerous decisions.

  
  


Dream was a strange one. Dressed in black and blinding green, with an iconic smiley mask he used to wear on his face, before he finally got comfortable enough to show them his face around a year later, and now wears on his dirty blonde hair as a reminder.

  
  


He never traveled without a shield and a sword and you'd never catch him slipping.

  
  


How he survived this long baffled both George and Sapnap.

  
  


Not because he was bad at getting out of situations, no, that wasn't it.

  
  


It was because he  _ started _ such severe situations. Whether it was jumping on dangerous areas he  _ physically wasn't supposed to _ , or angering armies of mobs, he was just like that.

  
  


Though they will admit, if it weren't for the tall man, they wouldn't have accomplished anything this fast or this easy. Dream was a major help, and as much as George said he hated it, he will admit that his laugh was a huge comedic relief at tough times.

  
  


"Why do you feel like screaming when just five minutes ago you scanned the whole area and concluded there were no mobs?" His low voice rumbled in a wheeze and George scoffed before pushing him away.

  
  


"It doesn't matter if I scouted it out or not, anything could have been lurking in the shadows that I missed, Dream!" He barked, " _ You gave me a heart attack,  _ **_Dream!_ ** "

  
  


That's when the full wheeze shot out and the man before him crumbled.

  
  


As George was gazing at him, his ears ringing from the iconic laugh and ocean waves, he remembered a certain detail.

  
  


"When did you even wake up? I tried to wake Sapnap, but he was out cold." He questioned, aware he wasn't going to get the answer anytime soon, if the increasing lung seizure his friend was having was an indication.

  
  


It took Dream a few minutes to calm down, by which George was beyond irritated, but not to the point of considering the possibility of drowning his friend and blaming it on mobs if the youngest dared to question.

  
  


"I don't know," He gasped for air, "all I remember is waking up and seeing you walk away from us. I tried waking Sapnap as well, but he was just out of it. Pretty sure he's still tired from last time."

  
  


George raised an eyebrow.

  
  


"Last time?"

  
  


"Yeah, la-" Dream began, but cut off, seemingly befuddled by his own prior statement.

  
  


George tilted his head.

  
  


" _ Last time? _ "

  
  


Dream furrowed his eyebrows.

  
  


"I-" He looked up from where he was holding his knees, barely keeping it together, and peered at the man dressed in blue, "Why do I feel like something just got cut off from my memory? I feel like we just did something important last night."

  
  


George was about to question if Dream was still high from dopamine, given how strange and vague his definition of 'last time' was, but then halted.

  
  


High from dopamine?

  
  


Why in the world would George even think that?

  
  


"What's up?" His younger friend brought him back to reality.

  
  


George, still with a stupid and confused look on his face, turned to him, "I just wanted to ask you if you're still high from dopamine until I realized that doesn't make any sense at all in the first place."

  
  


Dream's eyes visibly widened.

  
  


"So, you feel like that too, right!? Like something major just happened!?"

  
  


George racked his brain as his face scrunched up.

  
  


He wouldn't put it like that exactly, but with Dream bringing up the topic, George realizes he does feel a bit of déjà vu, especially now thinking about how they woke up in such an ecosystem.

  
  


"I didn't really think about it before, but now that you've mentioned it, I  _ do _ feel slightly strange." He replied.

  
  


"Wonder if Sapnap feels it too..." George heard Dream trail off, before thinking about what it implied.

  
  


Sapnap.

  
  


" _ Sapnap! _ Dream, you idiot, you left him alone!"

  
  


"He's fine." Said Dream, nonchalantly bringing out the 'e'.

  
  


"No! What if something gets him while he's asleep!?"

  
  


" _ George, _ chill out!" He chided playfully, "When has Sapnap ever not been able to take care of himself?"

  
  


"Not when he's  _ unconscious! _ "

  
  


"Yo, you guys remember something about eyes?"

  
  


"Shut up, Sapnap! Dream, you fucking dumbass, he could b-  _ SAPNAP! _ "

  
  


George whipped his head from Dream to the new voice that arrived.

  
  


Sapnap looked like shit, frankly. His dark brown hair was all over the place, and his bandana slipped all the way down to his neck.

  
  


George could hear Dream lose his cool again, but promptly ignored him.

  
  


"What do you mean, Sapnap?" By now, the youngest had come right next to them, his eyes burning from the way the sun hit the water.

  
  


"I don't know, I feel like I had a crazy dream I don't remember anymore, though I know it felt epic and real. Saw purple and ivory colours and shit."

  
  


Though he babbled nonsense, all three of them felt a sensation run through them.

  
  


The feeling of déjà vu became irreversible and until they figured out why exactly they were feeling this way, it wouldn't go away.

  
  


They just hoped whatever it was, it wasn't as complicated as it made itself out to be.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"So, what biome are we in again?" Sapnap's voice filled the air.

  
  


"Mushroom. Rarest of them all." George supplied.

  
  


"How do  _ you _ know that?" Dream questioned from where he, just like George had done before the last two woke up, was picking at the grass in wonder and confusion.

  
  


"Because I actually have a brain and read up on these sorts of things? Unlike _ some _ people."

  
  


"Oh yeah, you're the neat freak who studies the enchantment table and,  _ oooo _ , 'everything mystical'." Sapnap teased, emphasizing the last two words with sounds of a ghost, yelping when he got slapped with a flying mushroom, courtesy of George.

  
  


"And aren't  _ you _ grateful for it? Let me remind you that without me, neither of you would've survived this long." He turned to face the tallest of them all, as if sensing what the other was about to say. "And Dream, you shut up, because the only thing your brain is smart in, is getting us in danger!" The 'even if your brain does help us in difficult situations as well' part left unsaid for the sake of George's argument.

  
  


Dream ultimately shut up.

  
  


Sapnap, surprisingly, shut his mouth as well.

  
  


The eldest inhaled a deep breath he didn't know he needed to take in and let out an equally heavy exhale, then carefully, and tiredly, rubbed his closed eyelids with his finger tips.

  
  


Dream yawned, and Sapnap fell backwards against the big red mushroom with a loud  _ oof _ .

  
  


"Why the hell are all of us so fucking tired?" Sapnap whined from the ground, his voice slightly muffled from the way his baggy turtle neck covered his throat and mouth. 

  
  


"Beats me." Dream, with no enthusiasm found in his voice, shot back.

  
  


His arms hurt in a way they couldn't hurt just from sleeping in an uncomfortable position, and with the way both Sapnap and George looked equally out of shape, he concluded that they were all numb and aching.

  
  


Something happened.

  
  


But then what, exactly?

  
  


Nothing interesting happened from as far as he remembers.

  
  


He remembers himself and two people he called his friends-till-we-die mess around like usual. Burning villages down, or making boats and rowing on ice was just part of their chaotic routine.

  
  


But neither of those actions that he remembers would make sense for his body to hurt.

  
  


Dream vividly recalls that this type of pain was felt when he finally came down from his high when he fought with his sword and shield, but he doesn't remember using either of them in the last few days or so.

  
  


He decided he wanted to ask his friends, when he realized the two were already talking this whole time when he completely zoned out in his thoughts.

  
  


"I'm telling you, it feels like the dream was real, at least the pain I'm feeling in my shoulders and hands is." Sapnap scoffed, staring at his fingers as if they were something inhuman and otherworldly.

  
  


"I just said I know how you feel, are you fucking deaf, Sapnap?" George, as usual with the oldest and youngest, complained, before replying in a likewise confused and almost irritated tone.

  
  


"When I woke up today I also felt strange. Like, I don't know, just weird." He scratched the back of his neck, gazing down at the ever glowing lilac grass, "I felt lightheaded, but I thought that it was just from sleeping or something. But the pain is still there, so I have no clue on what the fuck happened to us."

  
  


Dream didn't miss the way his eyes shot from George to him in a question-like matter, almost as if he was asking if Dream was in this dilemma as much as he and the oldest were with his eyes.

  
  


"Yeah, I'm no different here. My shoulders and arms are shit, feel like the more I move 'em, the more they hurt." He quickly said, rolling his shoulders as he did, the pop in his shoulder blade more painful than he expected.

  
  


"Exactly!" Sapnap screamed, once again silenced by another mushroom thrown at his face, George fuming from the sidelines and yelling something along the lines of  _ Sapnap, shut up! _

  
  


The lightheaded thought process must have really amped up the aggression, Dream noted.

  
  


"Alright, before you two start a war for the gazillionth time, let's actually try to figure out what to do."

  
  


The two bickering friends shut up, Dream clearly seeing the metaphorical fire beginning to ooze out of Sapnap's mouth, and the molten lava swimming around in George's dark brown and light blue irises, before he got them to stop looking at each other and towards him instead.

  
  


At the end of the day, Dream knew they all loved each other more than anything, but sometimes, the young and old duo's playful fights, whether verbal or not, scared him even more than being chased down by both of them during a game they called manhunt. 

  
  


There was just something about the fact that if perhaps the day where they actually fought with the intent to hurt finally came, which Dream doubted it ever would, then the theory of the end of the world, wouldn't be so far fetched anymore.

  
  


Except this time, it wouldn't end by the Sun exploding, or the Earth combusting, it would be due to his best friends' wrath against each other.

  
  


Dream felt a shiver crawl up his spine at the thought, before the felt a mushroom slap his face, knocking him out of his daze instantly.

  
  


As he refocused, he saw two grins atop of finely built faces; the shorter male looking smug as he kept tossing a red and white mushroom up and down in his hand, with the younger one feeling a sudden rush of confidence and satisfaction at the fact that he hit Dream square in the face.

  
  


Sapnap looked towards George.

  
  


"Now I fully understand why you kept plowing me with these babies, George. The thud is so satisfactory." Sapnap commented towards George, tuning his voice to mimic the older’s accent, and said George laughed full heartedly.

  
  


"Now you're happy I hit you with them? How strange are you, Sappitus Nappitus?" The black haired man exploded in laughter.

  
  


And seeing them laughing together and bonding when just less than twenty seconds ago they were inches away from cutting each other's throats and setting the world on fire, caused Dream to feel even more frightened than he thought was possible.

  
  


How the hell he ended up with such strange human beings was beyond him, no less such chaotic ones, but honestly, in the back of Dream's mind, he knew they made the journey that much better.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


After some calming down and actual planning and discussing start, the trio came up with a few possible things they could do, given their current situation.

  
  


As Sapnap recalled, number one was probably the most simple one yet; in terms of using brain power to think of, that is, not in terms of execution.

  
  


Swimming.

  
  


See, here's the thing. All of them knew how to swim. Fairly well and for fairly long, actually.

  
  


Guess the manhunts really did help improve them, Sapnap mused.

  
  


But during all those times they chased each other, they knew they were surrounded by land while in the water. Always had boats with them on hand in case of emergency. Always saw islands or mountains in their peripheral vision.

  
  


This time?

  
  


Nothing.

  
  


They had no trees for boats, no compasses or maps, no fucking clue as to how close or how far their only chance at survival was. No idea how much they'd need to swim, the fear of drowning crawling up their bones, no matter how tough or strong they were.

  
  


Water was just scary like that.

  
  


Ok, so, no go. Not for now, at least.

  
  


Plan B? Dig underground.

  
  


Surely the island they were on was big enough to have a ravine or huge cave that interconnected to smaller ones, and if so, by going down each one, they would travel underneath the ocean and make it to land that way.

  
  


Fairly plausible solution, but they've yet to explore the whole mass of land the three were on, not a clue as to whether their hypothesis could wind up being true if there were no chasms leading to caves.

  
  


Third time's the charm, Sapnap remembers Dream saying, before asking them to think of another way around this problem again in case they could come up with something better.

  
  


Sapnap could've sworn that he was on the verge of passing out again during the deafening silence in which their brains were running marathons, before jolting awake out of dream land when he heard George scream.

  
  


"Of course, how could I forget!?"

  
  


Immediately, despite being tired prior, he curiosity listened for the oldest to explain his eureka moment, finding Dream to be listening as well.

  
  


"I remember I picked up a book not too long ago from a village when we were on the move." George started, as he frantically got up and sped walked towards a big red mushroom, motioning for the other two to follow him, "I got it from an architect who was kind enough to give it to me for free. I vividly remember it being about wood alternatives for furniture, and, would you take a wild guess, a popular alternative for wood was mushroom!" He jumped in excitement as he slapped the stem of the shroom.

  
  


Or, since it was such a big mushroom, was it technically bark? Sapnap didn't know, too tired to really care either way.

  
  


"All you had to do was shave the mushroom down and kind of mold the soft mushroom components into a malleable material, then shape it, and then wait for it to dry! If we do this correctly, we should be able to get a boat and paddle,  _ at least. _ "

  
  


"George, holy motherfucking  _ shit _ , you're a genius!" Dream exclaimed, before he dramatically fell down on his knees and bent down with his arms outstretched, "You officially have my respect as the smartest of us all, you were right! If it weren't for your bookworm tactics, we'd probably still be here for weeks!"

  
  


Just as Sapnap was about to laugh, he felt a hand tug at his shirt and shove him down as well, Dream planting his chest on the ground, making Sapnap forcefully kneel.

  
  


"Sapnap, apologize to this man right now, say you were sorry for insulting him earlier!"

  
  


Sapnap tried to wriggle out of Dream's grasp, he truly tried, but in the end realized that the only way to be released was to just accept defeat.

  
  


So, with a deep inhale and exhale, he said, "I'm very sorry, Georgie, you were right."

  
  


And even when he didn't want to, he still stifled a giggle that came out of him when George made another one of his noises to indicate he was happy. Not exactly a laugh or a  _ yippee _ , but a little contagious giggle that went up in pitch for the two seconds that the noise lasted.

  
  


"As much as I absolutely love the sight I'm seeing right now, if we wanna make this work, we're gonna have to get a move on right now. We have about less than twelve hours left, and we wanna make sure the boats dry in the sun, since that's how the mushroom hardens best."

  
  


Sapnap and Dream threw a nod at George, all of them hoping that they could make it before sun down.

  
  


And with that, plan Third Time's a Charm was in action.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


For faster and more effective teamwork, all of them split jobs.

  
  


Sapnap was in charge of hunting down crimson mooshrooms for food to cook later on, so they wouldn't starve in the long run.

  
  


Dream was scouting the area and bringing back mushroom stems, along with veils and gills and anything in between.

  
  


And George, as the person who knew the best of what he was doing, was shaving the base layers down and beginning to mold the soft paste of the fungi parts.

  
  


At first, it was a major slow start.

  
  


Within the first hour and half, Sapnap only successfully hunted down two sister variant of cows, Dream managed to barely cut the stem of the shroom with sharp stones he found laying at the entrances of few caves, and George was having a difficult time stripping the stems down to their center, the outer layers proving to be more resilient than he first assumed.

  
  


But after a while, it seemed that whoever listened to their prayers, found it in their heart to give them an easy flowing wave of work.

  
  


When the sun was in the sky, high above the clouds and staring at the three at a straight ninety degree angle, Sapnap had been coming back to their mini base with days worth of beef in his hands, covered in more blood than he'd want to admit, and found Dream on the way.

  
  


The tallest was carrying four rigidly cut down stems and parts of caps, a thin layer of sweat glistening on his forehead and cheekbones.

  
  


Sapnap had caught up to him, and Dream instantly covered his mouth when he saw the sight that made him almost gag in Sapnap's arms.

  
  


Despite always hunting animals and slaying zombies, and during the moment not caring about the vermilion stains on his clothes; once the craze wore off, Dream was almost always the most affected by the stench and texture. Remembering this, Sapnap sheepishly apologized and tried to turn his arms to the side, furthest away from the middle boy in age, while keeping his head in the front.

  
  


Dream silently thanked him and the two carried on towards the beach-like area where they could faintly see a figure in blue which stood out next to purples and reds.

  
  


George had been too engrossed into his projects, making a point by having his sunglasses on, not at all noticing the two boys behind him.

  
  


His hands and arms were covered in a beigey-gray substance and a pile half his height nestled to the side of him. Chunks and strings of peeled off layers were thrown to the mound of shroom, sometimes even rotten fungi parts that must've been disgusting to deal with.

  
  


And in front of George, lay a boat and two paddles. Obviously still not finished, the boat was about two fourths of the way there, and the paddles still needed their long rods to hold them by. But the sight was incredible.

  
  


The scream that left George's mouth when he turned around and saw two males covered in blood and sweat however, wasn't so incredible.

  
  


Coming down from the shock, he immediately cringed at both of them, especially at Sapnap.

  
  


"Both of you smell nasty as fuck." The shortest complained, waving the two of them off with a wrinkled nose.

  
  


Sapnap immediately began yelling at how George was one to talk when he had his arms covered in filth, as Dream wheezed and crumpled.

  
  


A few moments later, Sapnap turned to George.

  
  


"Hey, George,"

  
  


The man who was previously laughing from Sapnap's outburst, moved his goggles above his forehead, wiping underneath his eyes with the end of his shirt.

  
  


"Yeah?"

  
  


"You're pretty close to being finished, right?" He pointed at the molded fungi.

  
  


Earning a nod, Sapnap continued, "Then how about we quickly finish these bad boys, all three of us, and then go hop in that cold, cold sea to refresh."

  
  


Dream quickly agreed, dropping the 'logs' he was carrying and sitting in front of the makeshift boat, awaiting instructions on how to properly deal with it.

  
  


Sapnap followed not too long after, placing the uncooked beef underneath a pale brown mushroom to block the sun, on a clean patch of grass to avoid tainting it as much as possible.

  
  


In a quick and simple fashion, George showed them the basics, and soon enough, about an hour later, they guessed, the pieces were finished, pushed out into a clearer place for them to dry in wind and sun.

  
  


And after stripping down to their underwear, the three boys ran up the tall hill with a cliff looming over the sea, jumping off immediately due to momentum, flying past the rocky and dangerous beach, and landing in pale light blue water, clear and untouched by man-kind.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


The water felt indescribably amazing.

  
  


The crisp waves cooled the trio down immediately, washing away the sweat and blood and mud.

  
  


George had taken a deep dive, swum right to the ocean floor, mesmerized by how untouched the sand underneath his white legs was. It was shaped in ripples, little sandy waves of their own. The sand was astonishing, probably the softest he'd seen and touched, small tiny seashells decorating the bottom. The brunet picked a few up, wanting to inspect them above sea level.

  
  


Closing his eyes, George quickly swum up.

  
  


Dream and Sapnap were already floating up top, talking about seemingly nothing, and looking as if they put no effort into staying above. Sapnap was on his back, hands behind his neck, the most relaxed he's ever been, Dream in a similar position.

  
  


Which, after a while, made George realize they were most likely in a very salty beach.

  
  


Letting his tension out of his muscles, the oldest got fully prepared to begin sinking, but was pleasantly surprised to see himself stay afloat.

  
  


Noticing his reaction, Dream laughed.

  
  


"Yeah, can't believe we struck gold with this type of ocean. Usually, we'd either sink or the water would be too murky." He stated, to which Sapnap questioned.

  
  


"Aren't salty waters supposed to  _ always _ be extremely dark? I've barely seen any clear oceans that could keep me afloat."

  
  


"Nah, that's not how that works. Salty oceans can be both clear and murky, it's the upwelling that causes some beaches to be gray and brown, while others stay blue. Those which are blue usually have coral reefs nearby to stop sediments from passing by since they are more difficult to stir up and break apart. I'm more surprised that such a biome has this sort of shoreline though. Like you said Dream, I don't think we've yet to have seen this type of clear water before, with such high concentrations of salt." The oldest concluded, but then furrowed his eyebrows and set off again.

  
  


"But then if that were the case, how was I able to swim so low with open eyes and not feel the burn that I should? Is that what the myth about this biome was about? It's beaches? But, I don't understand, how could land change the way water works, unless, the mushroom island has something akin to that of an invisible perimeter and makes the oceans act differently since they fit into the assigned island barrie-"

  
  


" _ GEORGE! _ " 

  
  


When George looked up, startled by hearing his name, he was taken aback by the looks he was getting. Both of his friends looked shocked, jaws hung open and frozen.

  
  


"We've been calling your name for ages, George, you were rambling again!" Dream playfully shouted, laughing at the face he received from George, still concentrated from earlier, but with a hint of annoyance from Dream.

  
  


"What the hell did just come out of your mouth, I only understood like, five words, George." Sapnap deadpanned, although with eyes still bulged and wide open.

  
  


"Yeah, George, dude, you can't pull such fancy words and expect us to understand what you're saying, you're the only smart one here, me and Sapnap are just people who know how to hunt and that's it." Dream wheezed non-stop, doubling over even harder when George scoffed and muttered something along the lines of a fond insult.

  
  


"No, but really though, what you said wasn't  _ that _ important, right George? If it was, then you're gonna have to explain it to us." Sapnap responded, crossing his arms and laying his head down on the cool water.

  
  


George pondered for a moment, silently wondering if there was any valuable information he had said loudly, during which making his friends witness the chaos that usually goes on inside his mind.

  
  


"Not really. All you have to know is that we truly  _ are _ in a magical environment." 

  
  


"So, the books weren't lying?" Dream asked.

  
  


"No, I'm actually afraid that they weren't saying  _ enough _ of the apparent truth." George answered with a sour expression plastered across his features, before changing into a less moody appearance and bringing his palm up to show to the others.

  
  


"By the way, I found these when I swam down. Aren't they so cool?" 

  
  


Wondering what he was holding in his hand, both Dream and Sapnap swam next to George, the three of them huddled up together, inspecting the now visible seashells.

  
  


George spoke up again, sheepishly, "This might be a bit of a cheesy idea, but I thought that maybe we could make, like, uhm," He was obviously struggling with this, not the affectionate type, but powered through, "make some friendship jewelry out of these, as a reminder that we're always together." George ended with pink dust on his cheeks, focusing on everything but the people he couldn't live without.

  
  


Sapnap's loud cheer made him look back though.

  
  


"That's so fucking cool! We could make it so like, like, I could wear earrings, then Dream could wear a necklace, and George would take the bracelet! Like a matching set, but between the three of us!"

  
  


Dream chimed in, "Yeah, that's a bomb ass idea, maybe some mushroom scraps dried down already, and we could put something together as it could act like a dupe for rope or iron!"

  
  


Upon hearing the increasing chaos, George immediately smiled widely at the sight in front of him.

  
  


The two youngests actually looked hyped for the idea, and something within George filled up with warmth, despite being surrounded by cold waves.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


When they finally decided to get out of the water, the sun had turned a blinding orange in the pink-ish blue sky.

  
  


The boys were in there for a while, that's for sure. Sapnap tried to decipher the time, and estimated that they were in and out of the water for a little over two hours, to which George and Dream's jaws fell open; it had only felt like half an hour.

  
  


During one of the short breaks they had taken before, the trio had brought their clothes to the water, scrubbing out the filth and blood, then laid them out on rocks to dry while there was still pretty hot sunlight.

  
  


All of their jeans were wet at the waist, which caused disgust to George in particular, turning them a million and two ways around each time he walked past them on the rock, hoping to make them dry faster.

  
  


Dream had snickered multiple times and told him to relax, saying that they still had time before the sun hit the horizon.

  
  


None of them were sure if it was better and safer to sail during night time or try to spend the night cycle here.

  
  


George, like he had always done before, filled them in on how, typically, mushroom biomes don't house icky hostile creatures at all, but quickly added in that it was just speculation he had read up on a few months ago and wasn't sure on how true it was.

  
  


As if George had taught Sapnap that throwing mushrooms was the new best thing, the latter had picked one up and thrown it at the eldest. George had faltered and cussed out profanities, before getting deafened by Sapnap's shouts.

  
  


"What else are you withholding, you white glasses bitch!?"

  
  


"I'm not withholding anything, it's not my fault I only remember things at given times, you dumbass!"

  
  


A war of mushrooms started, and in the midst of it, if Sapnap and George had been focusing on anything else other than trying to destroy the other, maybe they would have noticed Dream banging his head against stone with a dead expression on his face.

  
  


In the end, after the trio calmed down, they settled on taking the risk and sleeping on the island. As the sun finally sunk at the opposite size of the globe, and the moon appeared on the other, bringing along thousands of stars with it, covering the increasing black of the night, George had said that he would keep watch for just a few more minutes.

  
  


Dream had instantly rushed to disagree, insisting that the shortest should get the sleep he needed, George had been the first to wake up after all, but after a stern look got thrown his way, Dream only shot one back, yet backed down and went to lay next to Sapnap, who may or may not have already been passed out by the time the first star shone.

  
  


"I'm only listening to you because I trust that you'll go to bed after those few minutes. If I wake up tomorrow and see even the slightest of eye bags from you, we're staying here one more day and waiting for you to rest up." Dream whispered to George, managing to look directly at him given how bright the moon was, illuminating the latter and giving him a weird halo effect.

  
  


George smiled, silently thanking Dream for his generosity, knowing that Sapnap would have probably said the exact opposite and told him to just deal with it, or something along the lines. He debated before deciding to verbally thank Dream as well, just in case the middle man didn't see his facial expression before.

  
  


"Promise me?" The blond quietly asked, holding a pinky in the air, towards the man who was on the rock the entire time they were talking.

  
  


Satisfaction filled his gut when George reached out his hand as well, a mirror effect of Dream, pinky out and visible. Despite not being able to reach each other, they closed their smallest fingers in their palms at the same time and Dream smiled lazily at him.

  
  


"Good night." And when he got an answer of the same exact two words, Dream finally allowed his tired eyes to close, turning to face Sapnap, chuckling with all the strength he had left after such an exhausting day when he saw the youngest drooling and lightly snoring.

  
  


George on the other hand, fondly stared at his younger friends and felt the smile grow on his face. 

  
  


The moon had been unusually white, almost blinding to look at. It wasn't as bright as it was during the day, George noted, but the light made it visible enough that if he wanted to take a walk around, he could see fairly fine with no problems. The ocean water glistened and sparkled from the millions of stars, and when George finally, actually looked up and gazed, the sky of a galaxy stared back at him.

  
  


Little and big heavenly bodies twirled around in excitement at finally being noticed by brown and blue eyes. Some painted themselves in pink, some were purple, orange and blue, but they all blended together and George had never felt so enraptured.

  
  


There was something so peaceful about looking out above, counting the little orbs in the black, knowing he could finally let his guard down during the night for the first time in years and not worry about zombies rounding the corner to bite at him and his friends.

  
  


Maybe that's why he might have broken his promise to Dream about going to bed after a few minutes, knowing fully well he had stayed awake for hours beyond that pinky link. When he finally laid down on the purple grass, when the moon was right above him, kissing him goodnight, George knew that he would be the last one to wake up.

  
  


And somehow, that didn't bother him as much as it usually did.


	2. something otherworldly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He promised himself he wouldn't cry this time, but the way the bright red cows were looking at a boat sailing into the distance, as if bidding them goodbye, and the way the water seemed to be getting darker and darker as they traveled, Sapnap couldn't help but break.

Waking up felt weird.

  
  


Dream had taken immediate notice that breathing was difficult to do for some forsaken reason.

  
  


His fighting instincts kicked into overdrive and just as he mustered up enough strength to shove whatever being was on top of his chest away, said being grumbled.

  
  


And it sounded awfully familiar.

  
  


Maybe opening his eyes first would be a good idea too, a fleeting thought ran through his head.

  
  


And Dream did so, but not before hissing when he managed to look directly into the morning sun. Immediately closing them back up, he tried again a few seconds later, turning his head to the side to avoid getting blind.

  
  


As he opened them again though, he finally saw what was making him have breathing problems.

  
  


If the curly hair and massive body was any indication, Dream concluded for he was, in fact, being cuddled by Sapnap.

  
  


Despite how cute the sight might have looked, Sapnap's cuddles were often deadly, given how much he squeezed and hugged during sleep. Dream, after he had gotten used to the brightness, quickly untangled the youngest's arms from around him, not worried about waking him up, knowing Sapnap always slept like a rock.

  
  


He fondly remembered the time when both he and George, mostly George, freaked out about not being able to wake Sapnap up, and had concluded in five seconds, that the man had died in his sleep.

  
  


Dream chuckled at the memory, before finally being able to sit up.

  
  


The stretch he did felt amazing, something to that of a cat; face scrunched, back arched, arms high, and legs bent. Sadly, the pain was still there, Dream noticed. It felt a lot duller, but he knew he wouldn't be able to make any sudden movements today.

  
  


Looking around, he spotted the large rock George was propped on top of yesterday, and Dream still wondered how the hell the oldest got up there. There was no visible area to properly climb it, but he didn't bother thinking about it too much. It was a fair bit taller than Dream's height, but if he really wanted to, he could probably just jump up there.

  
  


Thinking of the slanted stone, he remembered the promise he made George do last night, and he wondered if the lad had kept it.

  
  


Part of Dream said he did, he promised, but the other part reminded him that this was George Dream was thinking about, there was an equal chance of him breaking it as there was keeping it.

  
  


When the blond looked down to his right, the sight of full blue greeted him, deep in sleep.

  
  


Inspecting closer, George didn't seem to have any visible eye bags, and he looked to be sleeping soundly, so Dream's worry eased out a bit.

  
  


For some damn reason that George never really even told them about, he was always the one to have the most messed up sleep schedule. He would wake up early, or go to bed when the sun was already high in the sky, or sleep when it just began setting. 

  
  


That had always unsettled both Dream and Sapnap, but so far, George didn't seem to have pulled any of his stunts, so maybe they won't happen for a long time, Dream prayed.

  
  


After a while of sitting in place, Dream finally got up and stretched his legs. There were a few pops here and there, but nothing he couldn't handle.

  
  


Just as he was about to start walking towards their makeshift camp of sorts, to check up on the boat, a voice stopped him.

  
  


"Why the hell are you the first one awake?" Dream wasn't gonna lie, that probably made him jump more than it should've, but give him some slack, the man had only just woken up.

  
  


Turning back around, he saw Sapnap rubbing his eyes and yawning profusely. The shadow of a line of drool and dried up tears at both of his eyes inclined Dream to think that the former had a very good night's rest.

  
  


"Why the hell are you the  _ second _ one awake?" Dream countered back, giggling lightly when the youngest stared at him with a  _ are you serious _ face, raised brow and all, an insult or two being thrown his way.

  
  


He began talking after a few seconds of laughing.

  
  


"Don't know, was just the first to wake up is all." Just as Dream turned to continue walking, he suddenly remembered why exactly he woke up.

  
  


"Oh yeah, and I woke up because you were cuddling me to death, by the way. Now I understand why George traded places with me. It's perfectly understandable why he'd rather stay cold than be crushed to death by you." Dream snickered, eyes lighting up with mock as he stared at Sapnap's shocked face.

  
  


The latter scoffed, "You're so fucking mean, I hope you know that."

  
  


"That's how I managed to survive this long, baby!" He playfully shouted back, finally continuing his stroll to the mushroom creations.

  
  


They didn't always sleep next to each other, sometimes in a circle or even meters apart, especially when they all first met. Distance was prominent between the three.

  
  


But after they all got used to each other, and the freezing months started to take a toll, it was always George who was the most cold, often shaking in his sleep. Being the only one without a sweater or jacket, and refusing to get one because he said it didn't fit his fashion sense, the two younger ones teasing him about how he didn't even have one, George was often cuddled by them on both sides, keeping him warm during the night.

  
  


After a while though, it had seemed that the oldest developed some sort of immunity to the cold winters, sometimes feeling even warmer on snowy mountains with nothing on, rather than with a sweater.

  
  


That wasn't the only reason he had stopped laying in the middle though; Sapnap's cuddles were beginning to be uncomfortable. The man had begun squeezing and grabbing blindly during sleep, sometimes suffocating the shortest, making it hard to breathe.

  
  


So, because of that, he had practically shoved the tallest to the middle, insisting that he wasn't over exaggerating when he said he thought he was gonna get killed one day by the dark brunet.

  
  


Needless to say, Dream now also wanted to sleep furthest away from Sapnap.

  
  


And maybe he should've paid more attention to his surroundings, otherwise he wouldn't have tripped and fallen right into the fully dried boat.

  
  


"Shit!" The man in the green hoodie yelled, hastily scrambling out of the shroom smelling vessel, praying to whatever god was above that he didn't just fuck up all their hard work.

  
  


But the boat stood tall and mighty, despite it's very visible poor shape and height.

  
  


Dream knocked on it a few times, just to be sure, and was reasonably surprised when he felt a solid plaster-like surface echo back to him. It had fully dried already.

  
  


He still wasn't sure if this whole idea was even gonna work in the first place, given the boys' body weight and the material the craft was made of, but he didn't like being the negative Nancy. And Dream truly did want to get off this claustrophobic island as fast as possible, so he was willing to take anything, really.

  
  


"Sapnap! It's already dry. Solid!" Hearing this, the dark brown haired man came rushing over.

  
  


And, with his true Sapnap nature, hopped in the boat head first, taking a massive blow and screaming in pain, but immediately laughing afterwards.

  
  


Whether it was in pain or because it was actually funny, Dream wasn't sure.

  
  


"Just as I thought! It's practically hollow inside, this baby's gonna float, easy!"

  
  


Dream scoffed, "Sapnap, it's not hollow inside."

  
  


"Still." Sapnap countered, and rotated in a strange way to make himself comfortable, hands behind his head and legs dangling on the edge.

  
  


"Sure, whatever you say." Dream snickered and looked out into the ocean.

  
  


"When do you suppose we head out? It looks to be about eight right now." The middle boy asked, turning his head back towards his best friend. Sapnap had been gazing above, staring at the colorful clouds deep in thought.

  
  


Although they weren't really clouds, were they? The way they looked wasn't familiar to Sapnap, strange instead. Rather than individual little puffs of water vapor high in the sky, the above had been almost completely covered in a similar cloud texture, still in pink and orange and yellow with purple, even though it was already passed eight.

  
  


How had he only seen this now? Had yesterday been painted over like this as well?

  
  


George was right, Sapnap thought, this island really is cursed.

  
  


"Hello, earth to Sapnap?" The dragged out 'o' made him snap out of whatever trance he had just been put under, and Sapnap raised his head to stare at Dream.

  
  


"What?"

  
  


"I just asked you when we should set sail, but you've just been staring at the sky the whole time."

  
  


Sapnap turned his facial expression downwards, imitating being unimpressed.

  
  


"Have you even tried looking up?"

  
  


At this, Dream looked up and furrowed his eyebrows.

  
  


"Yeah, and?"

  
  


Sapnap frowned.

  
  


"What do you mean  _ 'and' _ ? The sky is a fucking cloud, Dream."

  
  


Dream's gaze ventured back down and Sapnap was about to reprimand him to stop playing games with him, until he saw the older's very much serious expression.

  
  


"Are you feeling okay?"

  
  


Sapnap widened his eyes. When was the last time he saw Dream this concerned with him? The youngest knew Dream well enough to know when he was lying or faking, and Dream was  _ not _ faking this.

  
  


Sapnap opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, stuttering and spluttering incomprehensible words, before he forced his head back up, and stopped completely.

  
  


The colors were gone.

  
  


The sky looked... normal.

  
  


Sapnap swore his brain froze and he snapped out again when he felt hands on his forearms shaking him violently.

  
  


" _ SAPNAP! _ " Jesus, that mini earthquake really fucked him up.

  
  


The white bandana loosened and slipped off of his forehead, now decorating his neck instead, and confused dark eyes bore into frightened green ones.

  
  


" _ What? _ Oh my  _ god _ , why are you freaking out so much?" Although now that he said it, Sapnap thought that it was pretty ironic hearing the sentence from him, when really, the youngest was probably freaking out even more than Dream.

  
  


"Oh,  _ I don’t know _ , maybe it’s because you were like, spacing out? Sapnap, are you okay? Dude, really, all jokes aside, did you get sick overnight or something?" It was still slightly uncomfortable hearing such concern from his best friend, but now Sapnap was questioning himself.

  
  


Did he really just imagine that?

  
  


No, he couldn't have. Sapnap saw the warm toned clouds, they were there, he  _ swore. _

  
  


So why was he the only one who saw them?

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Dream was slightly wary, he'll admit it.

  
  


He didn't really understand why he reacted so strongly, he just did.

  
  


On any other day Dream would've made fun of Sapnap and him looking drunk out of his mind, but there was something about the way he immediately relaxed when he gazed upwards, as if enchanted and mesmerized, put under a spell.

  
  


Dream vaguely remembers the sky looking nothing out of the ordinary when he awoke, so why was Sapnap so captured by it?

  
  


And maybe it was the way he caught a glimpse of something orange and purple in Sapnap's eye's that made him think that his companion was perhaps ill.

  
  


When the blond was told to look up and see the same kingdom of fluffy white clouds decorate an azure canvas in the form of a sky, Dream was muddled.

  
  


Sapnap was  _ definitely _ ill.

  
  


After their very strange interaction, Sapnap had asked him whether he really hadn't seen the heavens painted in colors they had yet to see up above during such hours, in such a form and visibility.

  
  


Dream responded with a simple no, but emphasized that he did see some of the colors Sapnap described in his irises, just not in the actual sky.

  
  


"What the  _ fuck _ happened, then?"

  
  


"How the fuck should I know, Sapnap? You're the one who supposedly just saw the apocalyptic sky!" Dream screamed, still confused and irritated, but trying very hard to understand.

  
  


At this point, Sapnap had his head in his hands, brain running a million miles per hour, thinking whether or not what he just saw was even real.

  
  


Dream sighed.

  
  


"Sapnap, listen. This island is abnormal, George said so himself, anything could happen here. So what if you just saw a sunset cloudy sky in the middle of the fucking morning, it's just a  _ sky! _ I'm fairly positive that's the least harmful thing, yet. It just so happened to disappear when I tried to look up and that's  _ it. _ " He had crossed his arms, focusing his eyes on the youngest, as if daring the other to challenge his statement.

  
  


Sapnap did.

  
  


"Dream, clouds- like  _ that _ , don't just _ 'disappear' _ . You did not see what I saw. The sky, the whole fucking  _ thing _ , was  _ covered! _ There wasn't even a sun, but some of the clouds _ still _ stayed orange! It doesn't  _ work _ like that, Dream!"

  
  


After that, they had both stayed silent. There was no use arguing about this, really. There wasn't anything to gain from doing that.

  
  


So, instead of fighting further, Dream scanned the empyrean, and when he found only blue and white, he turned his head towards the place they woke up in.

  
  


George hadn't moved a muscle.

  
  


Maybe he did break the promise, Dream thought disappointingly, yet not angry, realizing somewhere in this chest that he probably would've done so too.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


When George  _ did _ finally awake, it was just about to strike twelve in the afternoon.

  
  


The smell of sweet and juicy steak made him drool and almost lull him back to sleep, but the grumble in his stomach insisted that it wanted real steak, that the dream version wouldn't satisfy.

  
  


So, groggily sitting up, moaning in pain from the way his spine cracked in unison, he swung his head towards the direction of the smell.

  
  


Sapnap was crouched next to a makeshift campfire, his fingers covering his nose. At first George wondered why the youngest was doing so, but then the ratchet smell of burning fungi reached his nostrils, almost making him throw up right then and there. He was just about to complain, when George realized that there was nothing else they could really burn other than the shrooms.

  
  


What a pity, the last thing he wanted was mushroom smelling steak, but oh well.

  
  


"Oh hey, you're finally up. I was just about to wake you, too. Can't be sleeping on the job  _ this _ long." The familiar voice of a tall male behind him snapped him back into reality.

  
  


George chuckled, "Yeah, sorry. I know I promised you yesterday I'd go to sleep early, but the night sky was something out of this world, you should've been there." He commented with a sparkle in his eye, smiling when he saw Dream looking so fondly at him, before visibly frowning.

  
  


"What is it with you two and skies all of a sudden?" He asked, jolting George into confusion.

  
  


"What on earth are you on about?" He questioned, truly bewildered. Was there something he said?

  
  


"When I was with Sapnap earlier this morning he went on about seeing some strange fucking cloud in the sky that supposedly covered the whole thing. I didn't say it to him because I didn't want to fight, but I'm pretty sure he was just maybe out of it, having just woken up and all, especially because I was  _ right there _ next to him and didn't see shit. But now  _ you're _ talking about some fucking night sky as well." Dream responded, slightly irritated and very much paranoid, "Be honest, is there something seriously wrong with this place or are you two pulling a prank on me? Because if you are, you two are good fucking actors."

  
  


It was the way Dream crossed his arms over his chest and squeezed his forearms anxiously, twisting his facial expression into that of a scared animal, mouth a thin line and eyes wide with eyebrows scrunched.

  
  


George immediately sprung up, his older brother senses taking over his entire mannerisms and body language.

  
  


Despite the orthostatic hypotension making him wobble and almost letting him fall backwards due to temporary lost vision, George quickly grabbed Dream's crossed arms and when he finally stabilized himself, hugged the other tightly, slightly annoyed at the height difference, but not at the way the hug felt.

  
  


"Dream, I still don't really understand what you're talking about, but I  _ promise _ you, you have nothing to be afraid of. I don't like giving people false hope, but I can assure you, I'm not lying when I say that I will protect you from everything and anything." He felt more than saw Dream's little laugh and smiled to himself when he felt the younger's arms wrap around George as well.

  
  


"Sometimes I forget you're the oldest one here." Dream commented, laughing when George gasped in fake aggression, slapping him on the arm.

  
  


Just when they pulled apart, George wanted to put some more reassuring words into Dream, but he got cut off by a certain someone.

  
  


"George, can you stop hugging Dream and hug me for once!? I'm the one who's cooking and suffering, I expect proper payment from you!" Sapnap screamed loud enough to make nearby mooshrooms run wild, making all three of them laugh, as two approached one.

  
  


Still feeling in a good mood, George decided to humor Sapnap for once and hugged him from behind, carefully sitting down, while Dream quickly, feeling guilty for leaving the youngest alone for so long, took over the cooking.

  
  


As if a big cat, Sapnap immediately began purring from happiness, letting his body fall slack against George's chest, even going as far as resting his neck against the older's shoulder, reaching for his hand and placing George's palm on Sapnap's hair.

  
  


"Do you really expect me to just pamper you like that?" George asked him in a slight smirk, feeling Sapnap open his mouth in protest, before effectively shutting him up when he did begin scratching his head, feeling the youngest melt almost immediately.

  
  


"As much as you two fight, Sapnap really does love it when you give him the attention he wants, huh?" Dream wheezed at the sight, desperately wanting for there to be a way to save it forever in physical form, not just in his memory.

  
  


George scoffed fondly, already knowing his arm was gonna hurt like absolute shit, but still powering through.

  
  


"It's the friendliness from me that makes him so peaceful." George stated proudly, knowing full well he had the youngest wrapped around his finger, even when the other claimed he hated him.

  
  


Hell, who was he kidding, all three of them were wrapped around the others' finger.

  
  


"I can tell." Dream laughed, turning the steak to the side a bit, smoking up places that needed more flame, "When I hug or pet him he still acts like an absolute shitbag, but with you, it's as if he's put under a spell." His eyes wandered towards Sapnap's face.

  
  


The male looked as if he was on the verge of falling asleep by the way he snored soundly and sat with no complaints. The blond even noticed how George, despite in visible ache, was willing to make Sapnap feel as comfortable as the dark haired man wanted to be.

  
  


With that in mind, Dream smiled to himself, he really couldn't ask for better friends.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


It was around the start of midday noon when all three of them finished their meal.

  
  


Sapnap had expected the taste to be so horrifying and terrific, that he'd rather starve than eat it, but surprisingly, the meat was amazing.

  
  


One thing he'll never forget, though, is almost choking on it to death.

  
  


During the  unexpectedly calm meal, Sapnap had remembered a crucial detail that they had all managed to forget, which caused him to inhale in realization, along with chunks of medium rare cooked steak.

  
  


Dream had immediately strung into action, banging on Sapnap's back to make him spit it out, but the man calmed down after a while, having swallowed it as he was choking.

  
  


"Sapnap! Are you okay?" George asked, concern twisting his face in different shapes.

  
  


"Yep," Sapnap responded after a while of sitting and carefully breathing to not mess up his organism again, "just remembered that we never ended up doing those jewelry thingies. We should totally make them before we leave, the shells should still be here, right George?!"

  
  


George and Dream's eyes instantly lit up with joy, words like  _ oh yeah _ , and  _ you're right, Sapnap, how come we forgot?! _ flung around in the atmosphere.

  
  


So, quickly finishing eating, they ran to the hell of a mess that was mushroom bits and parts.

  
  


Sapnap was the only one with his ears pierced, much to Dream and George's weird looks when he practically begged them to poke holes in his earlobes.

  
  


Sapnap vividly recalls Dream questioning if he was alright, and how was having gaping holes in your ears  _ at all _ sanitary, but nevertheless, they went with it, simply because they knew that Sapnap would never leave them alone if they didn't.

  
  


Dream almost got his ear pierced one time, but it was an accident. They had been playing games and screwing around in a small town they found, when Dream managed to slip and fall in the blacksmith, head first onto a floor of pins and nails. One of them had been standing right up, uncomfortably close to where Dream's ear would have wound up had he moved a bit to the left.

  
  


Sapnap recollects both him and George laughing profusely, while the blond was freaking out, yelling at them to help him.

  
  


Speaking of George, he also didn't have any body mods, as Sapnap started calling it. Although he did like painting on his skin in charcoal sometimes, always getting disappointed when the animal he worked so hard to draw on his right arm got washed away by rain.

  
  


So, being the only one with holes in his body, Sapnap naturally took the earrings, while George settled on having a bracelet, and Dream got the necklace.

  
  


Unsurprisingly, they managed to find and shape the hooks or clips and strings to fit their tastes and style, quickly weaving and twining around their colorful shells.

  
  


After a few minutes, the end result was spectacular, and all of them had the jewelry on. Sapnap had opted for the earrings to dangle a bit, finding thin, but strong enough strips to secure strength. They were a light color, a certain shade of beige mixing with unusual pastels, like desaturated reds, blues and greens, a couple more barely visible colors weaving in between, such as pinks and yellows. Sapnap joked about how the colors matched them, something about how it’s made to be, to which George and Dream laughed at in amusement.

  
  


On each ear, Sapnap had laced through three variants of shells, all varying in size and shape, before tying a few bows and knots to secure them in place and beginning to shape a hook to pull through his lobe.

  
  


George tied a simple band of three shells around his right wrist, finding the way they sparkled and shone in the sunlight amusing. Just like Sapnap, George precisely chose shells that represented their colors, twisting knots on both sides of the string to keep them from moving around. The weight on his wrist felt calm and refreshing, constantly reminding George of its existence.

  
  


And Dream, not wanting to feel left out, took the same route. He wore a similar style to George, the necklace short and simple, three or five shells adorning his throat, the biggest one having blended colors of blue and red. The blond tied the shroom string in the back with a little bow, just for that extra flare.

  
  


After their little jewel show, their original plan  _ had _ changed a bit, much to their dismay.

  
  


Given how late George woke up and how long they ate, the estimated time they had to leave to find land had moved forward. They were more so annoyed than concerned, knowing that the only danger that lurked in the sea were the drowned and, even if very rare, fish-like blue blobs of water: Guardians.

  
  


The trio had really only ever saw them a couple times, and fought them an even lesser amount, but the beats weren't anything they couldn't handle.

  
  


"So, it's currently about fifteen minutes passed one, which means we have to leave almost right now if we want to get any luck." Dream had told the other two, who listened with wide eyes and ears.

  
  


The feeling was strange, if you asked Sapnap. He doesn't remember ever making a boat this early into their adventure before, especially not one from mushrooms, and he did feel a bit cautious getting into the thing, but the vessel was spacious and the paddles felt right when gripped in hand.

  
  


So, with that, the last time Sapnap ever stood on the island was when Dream pushed him and George out into the open waters, hopping in after them with their help.

  
  


It felt weirdly bittersweet.

  
  


Sapnap was a person with attachments like no other. Always to look the most gloom when moving on from their shitty camp or abandoning their stolen village home to head somewhere else. He always told himself to stop doing so, but it never really worked.

  
  


And this time was no different.

  
  


There was just something about looking back and eyeing the lilac grass rolled out and flattened from where they laid or built or ran, seeing the fire still extinguishing, a trail of smoke high in the sky. Scraps of shrooms littered the place and the rocks they dried their clothes on still felt hot from the sun, but now only as a memory.

  
  


He promised himself he wouldn't cry this time, but the way the bright red cows were looking at a boat sailing into the distance, as if bidding them goodbye, and the way the water seemed to be getting darker and darker as they traveled, Sapnap couldn't help but break.

  
  


"There, there, it's okay, Sapnap, I'm sure we'll find more biomes like this one."

  
  


Dream knew he couldn't really say anything to make Sapnap feel better. He and George both found out, after a couple of repeated trying times, that the best way to comfort Sapnap, was to just let him cry and be there for him.

  
  


They couldn't necessarily  _ find _ another biome, and even if they did, it wouldn't feel nor be the same as the original one.

  
  


Sapnap had sniffled a little, teeth clanking and crashing together as he tried to grit them, but the force of his sobs was much stronger, causing his jaw to open and close every few seconds.

  
  


"I know, I-I know. I wish I didn't cry all the time over stupid things like these. It's just a fucking island and I'm over here sobbing over it." George knew now wasn't the best time to laugh, but he couldn't contain the chuckle that left his mouth, causing Sapnap to look at him with teary eyes, yet a bright smile.

  
  


"Why the fuck are you laughing?" He shouted in fake annoyance, slowly trying to forget about the large cone shaped island they were leaving behind.

  
  


"I'm sorry, that was rude of me, I know. But it was the way you phrased it that broke me." George finally got out, belting out a laugh that had him thinking he was gonna get a six pack in two seconds.

  
  


Sapnap couldn't resist and dived into the laughter as well, wiping his wet cheeks on his sleeve, appreciating the gentle palm on the back of his back, courtesy of Dream, and smiled full heartedly.

  
  


He will always have the two by his side, and the thought alone overpowered the sorrow tugging at his guts.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


It was quiet, that's for sure.

  
  


Dream can name only a few times where it was as silent as this in his life.

  
  


It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, at least.

  
  


If he were to guess, they've been in the boat for about four hours. All three of them had been rightfully burned out, even if they haven't really done anything today, either.

  
  


As Dream turned a bit to his right and looked ahead, he saw George absentmindedly drawing small ripples on the water, fingers dancing delicately as to not provoke the gentle waves.

  
  


His hair was still wet, water droplets running down the clumped up strands and cheekbones.

  
  


At one point, not even an hour into their trip, the brunet had exclaimed he was unbelievably bored, and hopped into the water, making them stop in the middle of nowhere and refresh.

  
  


The group being ride or die friends, Sapnap had ended up following the oldest, Dream right on his tail likewise.

  
  


A lot of splashing and laughter later, they crawled back in, a tiny bit worried that the boat could float away from them any moment, and set off again.

  
  


From then on, George kept dunking his head back in the cold ocean to keep cool, and Dream was positive the brown haired boy will forever smell like the puffy, saltridden waves.

  
  


Sapnap wasn't as committed as George though, the boy opting to instead lay on his back, basking in the sunlight. Reminiscent of the first time he crashed into the vessel, his legs laid dangling from the edge, the soles of his feet somewhat touching the sea, sending small chills and tingles along his spine.

  
  


Lastly, Dream was simply mulling over life.

  
  


And maybe about how he would kiss the ground when they finally stopped at found land.

  
  


Which didn't seem like a want that was going to be achieved any time soon.

  
  


"How long have we been going for?" George asked in boredom, voice barely having any strength anymore. Dream wondered why that was.

  
  


Sure, they were tired, but if you asked Dream, he could still run a marathon if he really had to.

  
  


"I don't know, man, four, five hours? Feels like it at least." Sapnap commented, a slight sunburn decorating his face. The youngest scoffed at himself for having fallen asleep while facing right towards the sun, and knew that his face was going to hurt like a bitch for the next few days.

  
  


"I'd say so, yeah. I really hope we can find at least another island to rest up on. I'm not seasick or anything, but seeing nothing but waves for this long is making me go insane." Dream replied, earning a whine from Sapnap to indicate he agreed with his statement.

  
  


"Mmm." And there George went, back to drawing shapes Dream couldn't understand into the ocean waters.

  
  


"George, if I may ask," The tall man finally built up the courage to ask, cautious of the brown and blue eyes that bore into him in an unamused question, "what have you been drawing this whole time? I've tried to figure it out, but each time I failed."

  
  


George raised his eyebrow and looked back at where his hand floated limp at sea, before the drowsiness left his irises and a confused expression decorated his face.

  
  


"I... don't know? A, cat... maybe..." Ok, what the fuck was that.

  
  


"I just said I don't know! I was like, out of it, or something, I don't... know..."

  
  


Apparently Dream had said that outloud, oops.

  
  


George's words ran through his head, the expression and body language; something felt off before, and now it was back to normal, but Dream had only just noticed this.

  
  


When he was drawing those symbols, or whatever the hell that was, he had seemed to be under some trance, for a lack of a better word.

  
  


"What is it with you and Sapnap being so off today?" Upon hearing his name, Sapnap raised his head towards Dream, before turning to stare at George.

  
  


Suddenly, the oldest grasped his head in what seemed like uncomfortable pain, as if a headache just stroke, and hunched forward, gripping at his damp hair strands.

  
  


Dream shot up and hopped over Sapnap's sprawled out body, coming close to George and gently, very gently, grasped his forearm.

  
  


"You good?"

  
  


He earned a weak nod, but it was a nod nonetheless.

  
  


George brought himself back up slowly, taking a look at his surroundings carefully, yet with confusion.

  
  


"Jeez, how long has it been?"

  
  


Dream and Sapnap both shared looks of confusion and worry, before turning back to the boy in question.

  
  


"Dude, George, you  _ just _ asked us that."

  
  


"I did? I thought that was three hours ago."

  
  


Dream exploded, " _ Three hours?! _ It hasn't even been five  _ minutes! _ How strong of a headache do you have?!"

  
  


George visibly winced at Dream's noisy tone, but Sapnap only raised his eyebrow. Dream wasn't even talking that loud, an octave or two higher, at least.

  
  


Either George had sniffed way too many shrooms, or he was seasick and tired.

  
  


"George, maybe you should just rest up, weird things have been happening lately, yeah, but I'm pretty sure you can just sleep this off." Sapnap suggested, patting his thigh to indicate he was fine with being George's body pillow.

  
  


He smiled softly when he saw George cave in and crawl next to Sapnap, plopping down with a heavy thud, heavy even for Dream, and almost instantly passed out when his head met Sapnap's warm leg, sighing in content as Sapnap began petting his hair.

  
  


He didn't see the concerned look the two younger friends were sharing though, Dream looking beyond confused, and Sapnap trying desperately to recall everything that just happened.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"So, care to tell me all of the details? So I can actually try and understand shit?" Sapnap asked with eyes blown wide, wider than he thought possible, eyebrows furrowed and lips in a thin line, gazing into Dream like a predator.

  
  


"I would tell you, if I myself knew what the _ hell _ just went down."

  
  


Sapnap peered down. George had just fallen asleep, and yet he looked to have been sleeping for hours. He doubted that even if an explosion of some sort would ring in the air, George would just sleep right through it.

  
  


"He looked out of it, man. I can't explain it." Dream started, glancing out to the side, arms gripping each other as he slightly grit his teeth, "I, honest to  _ god _ , just thought that he was maybe tired and hyperfocused on whatever he was drawing, but I couldn't figure out why, and what the fuck he was painting in the water."

  
  


Sapnap continued to listen obediently.

  
  


"I asked him what he was drawing and he gave me the most indescribable look ever. George's eyes felt cold and distant and like he wasn't even there, talking to me. It was only until he finally snapped out of it and the look disappeared, and then the whole headache thing happened, that he was back to normal."

  
  


"How many mushrooms did the guy inhale, really?" Sapnap asked jokingly after a pause, crossing his hands and closing his eyes, feeling his nerves go down a bit when he heard Dream chuckle.

  
  


"A lot, probably." He replied, wheezing a bit harder this time, Sapnap joining in.

  
  


The tension of unease still held them in a chokehold, but, in retrospect, there wasn't really anything the two could do.

  
  


Letting the situation go was the only solution they could come up with right now that made sense.

  
  


They were in a boat, an unstable one at that, stranded at who knows where, George apparently just got possessed then promptly passed out, and it was nearing sunset.

  
  


Tell them, was there really anything that they could have done?

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


It was midnight. George had just woken up from a long nap and took a panicked second to remember where he was.

  
  


He sat up rather quickly and scanned his surroundings, immediately registering the groan behind him.

  
  


George turned around and saw Sapnap bring his legs up, squishing them close to his chest to stretch them. The man looked on the verge of passing out, but not in the way that he himself wanted to. It more so seemed that his body was forcing him to shut down because of schedule.

  
  


"You really had to go and make my leg fall asleep for hours, didn't you?" The younger man had asked with a laugh, massaging his thigh and cringing at the uncomfortable pain he felt there.

  
  


George smiled apologetically and followed the sound of light snoring.

  
  


Dream was curled up into a ball on the opposite side of the vessel, seemingly deep in slumber, dreaming of whatever he could dream.

  
  


"What time is it?"

  
  


"Jesus, is that the only thing you can say now?" Sapnap questioned smugly, yet in fake disbelief, causing George to roll his eyes.

  
  


"Just answer the question, you dingus."

  
  


The dark haired boy raised one eyebrow and looked to the side, obviously thinking hard.

  
  


"I don't know exactly, I'd guess it's passed one, but it could be passed anything, really."

  
  


The moon wasn't above them, but close to it. George realized that the sky looked ominously similar to yesterday's, but it felt duller. Not necessarily looked, but George could tell the difference in energy, as he would describe it.

  
  


It didn't feel as enchanting or capturing, nor was it as colorful. The stars glinted, yes, but not in the way he remembers them. As if they lost their sparkle, their galaxy.

  
  


He wasn't sure why he felt so sad all of a sudden, so empty and uncertain, but the feelings sat there in his gut uncomfortably, swirling around and tugging at his sides like an animal's claws embedded into his skin. Not exactly painful, but in deep enough to make him flinch and hurt.

  
  


"You okay, by the way? Do you still feel strange?" He heard Sapnap's deep voice cut through the thick fog his brain had built up, clouding his thought process.

  
  


"Uh, yeah, I am, sorry. Still trying to get back to normal." George shook his head, wanting so bad to look at the stars again, even if they were unlike before, as if calling out to him.

  
  


"I've been meaning to ask, but, what the hell happened back there, dude? Dream said you acted weird before you passed out." The dark brunet asked uneasily, clearly uncomfortable with the topic in case George didn't want to answer or remember anything.

  
  


"I don't know, nor do I really recall," George started, indifferent to the weird look he was receiving from Sapnap, "all I can really say is that from the moment we got back into the boat, I sort of blacked out. I thought I had just fallen asleep at first, but I kept drifting in and out of consciousness, or, at least that's what it felt like to me." The brunet stated, "I do remember drawing something in the water, but I didn't really put much thought into it."

  
  


"When Dream talked to me, I kinda just, finally broke out of whatever trance I was in? If I were to describe what I experienced, then imagine taking a really hot bath, and then stepping out of it into cool and crisp air. It's like your mind just feels lifted finally, able to properly breathe. That's what it felt like. Just able to actually see clearly after a while. And then I passed out again." George added comically, recalling the story with an unnoticeable shiver.

  
  


It felt uncanny talking about it like nothing, because in reality, George was still scared.

  
  


Nothing of the sort had happened to him before, so him being frightened might have even been an understatement.

  
  


"I see," Sapnap, after a long time of thinking and processing, watching as the waves around them swung towards the east, the moon beaming downwards and giving the waters a weird glow, spoke, "I can't imagine how strange you might be feeling right now. Sounds wack, my guy."

  
  


"It  _ is _ wack, Sap. I still can't believe that happened, really. Feels like a fever dream at this point."

  
  


Although Sapnap only hummed in agreement, in no hurry to continue the conversation.

  
  


Somewhere, during the time period they were talking, the youngest had managed to rest his head on Dream's ass and got comfortable, making George release a hard laugh when he finally noticed the scene, letting a few tears fall down as he tried to stifle it, as to not wake up the middle boy.

  
  


They had stayed up a bit longer together, not really talking, more so mutually gazing upon the clear midnight sky, exchanging a few words or sentences here and there.

  
  


It reminded George of yesterday; fairly different, sure, but the feeling still had undertones of the night before.

  
  


Yet this time, Sapnap was awake with him, and the sky was a bit duller and a bit more empty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry i took so long! School started for me and its been a hastle getting used to actually waking up in the morning and get ready to physically go to school.
> 
> I also just started gymnasium, so ive been taking time to get used to everything, although i made sure to work on this as much as possible whenever i found time!!
> 
> Hopefully you enjoy the new chapter, let me know how i did!!


	3. golden wants

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream laughed in a rush he hadn't felt in ages, feeling so free and careless and alive while being chased by a depleting crowd.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is optional, but!!!
> 
> Towards the end of the fic, if you want, then please listen to golden by harry styles, its such a nice song, and imo it fits perfectly with the ending!

Cold. It was cold.

  
  


The swinging sensation was making Dream nauseous and his sweater was already soaked with water, sending shiver after shiver up and down his body.

  
  


He couldn't see, couldn't think.

  
  


The harsh backward and forwards rocking motion sent Dream flying to the front and back, and he was convinced he was about to barrel to the edge of the boat and vomit.

  
  


His friends were nowhere to be found and he felt stranded.

  
  


A thought ran through his mind that made Dream fear unlike anything he was afraid of before.

  
  


What if his friends had already fallen over the boat, had sunk right to the bottom of the sea, before they would inevitably float back upwards with gray eyes?

  
  


What if the waves already swallowed them whole, took them away from him and made them suffer a terrible fate, one that he would slowly follow?

  
  


Dream felt a scream bubble up in his throat at the idea, an idea so horrifying and painful he felt his heart physically clench.

  
  


His body felt constricted, as if wanting to burst at the seams, the blood in his system hurriedly rushing to warm his cold, deteriorating body, failing by the second, as the underestimated, harsh and freezing, ice cold water collapsed against his frail complexion.

  
  


Dream felt the waves grow stronger, grow bigger and more fierce and deadly, and he felt as if time froze and ran at the speed of light at the same time, because nothing could have described the sight he witnessed, in no amount of time.

  
  


A massive oncoming blow of aqua he would definitely not survive and before he even registered it completely, the wave hit him, crashed into him like thousands of anvils raining down, sending him plowing backwards and hitting his head on the side of the vessel and then all he saw was black and suddenly he couldn't breathe and-

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Dream flew upwards with a silent scream ringing in his head. His eyes were unfocused and the clothes he was wearing felt too tight on him and he couldn't process where he was and everything looked white as his head hurt and throbbed.

  
  


He was just about to scream, the blond’s lungs hyperventilating, until a voice he thought he had lost forever made his head spring in its direction.

  
  


"Hey, I think Dream's awake! Dream! You sleep well?!"

  
  


It was George.

  
  


Swimming in the calm ocean waves that Dream swore was seconds away from taking his life and had already taken his friends' lives.

  
  


He wanted to yell and shriek at the oldest to get the hell out of there, before he spotted his other friend in there as well.

  
  


Sapnap had been underneath the sea level and sloshed around George, who giggled and dunked back into the water fully, Dream seeing faint outlines of pale and tan skin dancing and twisting beneath the quiet waves.

  
  


What the hell had just happened.

  
  


Was that just a nightmare?

  
  


A horrible  _ horrible _ and twisted nightmare that felt too real to be fake?

  
  


Dream pinched himself.

  
  


He flinched.

  
  


So, it  _ was _ a nightmare.

  
  


He only snapped out of his thoughts when he felt the boat dip forward. Dream lifted his head and faced two boys next to each other, holding onto the side of the vessel as their lower bodies stayed buried underneath the clear blue. They would have looked like two mermen, had they not been so goofy looking.

  
  


Sapnap had seaweed in his hair, and Dream would later come to know that the reason for that was courtesy of George. The two had started a seaweed fight in the wee hours of the morning and George had apparently won, much to Sapnap's denial.

  
  


While George had simply looked out of a different dimension, with his sunglasses, covered in droplets, perched on top of his nose and his hair pushed back, the stupid grin on his face making Dream scoff playfully.

  
  


"For real though, you slept like twelve hours, my guy." Sapnap commented, tilting his head to the side to mimic confusion and curiosity.

  
  


"Twelve hours?! What time is it?!" The middle man exclaimed, causing George to jump a tiny bit and lose his grip on the already slippery material of the boat, and splash back into the water, yelling on the way down, the sound drowning out as his head dove under the sea.

  
  


Sapnap had immediately pointed and laughed, too late to realize his own mistake. One hand was definitely not enough to hold onto the side, and, he too, scrambled down into the ocean, little bubbles coming out from where he had managed to sink with his whole body.

  
  


There they went again, Dream thought, as he watched the other two splash each other with water and shriek.

  
  


As he looked down, Dream eyed with wide concern when he saw his hands shaking, still obviously affected by what happened.

  
  


"Hey, guys? Do you mind getting out of the water, I don't want you two getting sick." A lame excuse, he knew, but the boy didn't feel comfortable telling them about what he dreamt of yet.

  
  


He didn't want to jinx anything.

  
  


"Oh, c'mon, the water's amazing here, Dream!" George argued, whining, but with a smile on his face as he rolled around and laid on his back.

  
  


"As much as I agree with you, George, I think we  _ should _ get out of here. We've already been in here for like, three hours." Sapnap shot back at the older, and urged him to follow him towards the boat.

  
  


Upon hearing this, Dream yelled at them to get out of there as soon as possible. He knew his friends better than anyone else, and their 'the water is amazing' meant that it was freezing cold, given how it was morning, but they just really wanted to play around together, and sacrificed their health for the sake of entertainment, then got used to the water as a whole.

  
  


He was surprised he didn't see either of them come out blue, for fuck's sake.

  
  


Somewhere during the time Sapnap and George had begun drying off, Dream managed to will his shakiness to a stop. Not an exact certain one, but one strong enough to not let the others notice.

  
  


He was willing to forget about it.

  
  


Whether it was for the meantime, or for forever, Dream didn't want a moment where his brain reminded him of, perhaps the scariest, nightmare he's ever had.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


The routine was practically the same as yesterday, Sapnap mused.

  
  


The trio did nothing, but either talk, swim, play mind games or recall different memories. A munch on a cold steak here, and a nap every few hours there.

  
  


It got pretty boring, he wasn't gonna lie.

  
  


Sapnap could tell the two elders got pretty bored and tired quickly, too. George opting to take a short sleep break, and Dream caressing the indents of the smiley and dots on his mask, seemingly engrossed in it so much, that he wouldn't notice if, Sapnap thought excessively, perhaps, the boat started sinking.

  
  


He wanted to ask what was on his mind, what seemed to have been troubling Dream beyond relief, enough for him to start picking off little shreds of wood from the white painted face cover, from parts of cuts and scratches.

  
  


There was a distant look in his eyes.

  
  


Uncertain, empty, and dull. Sapnap worriedly furrowed his eyebrows and rushed to crash down next to the older boy. He fell with a rather heavy thud, rocking the boat, and most likely stirring George in his sleep, but right now, that's not what was on Sapnap's mind.

  
  


Dream glanced at him in question, signaling for Sapnap to explain why he did what he had just done.

  
  


"You looked weird, man."

  
  


At that, Dream only raised an eyebrow, and Sapnap saw the way his eye didn't glisten anymore, despite it being broad sunlight, smack dab in the middle of the day.

  
  


His irises were blown out of proportion and his emerald green eyes looked darker than they should have been.

  
  


Sapnap bet that if he asked George, even  _ he _ could exclaim that something was off with Dream's eyes.

  
  


They only found out that George was 'colorblind', as they had named his condition, when they were staring at a sunset one day and the two younger ones were completely hypnotized by it, while George barely looked interested.

  
  


Slowly, one thing led to another, and they found out that he saw reds and greens differently than both Sapnap and Dream.

  
  


Sapnap was brought out of his head when Dream put his mask back on, but this time, rather strangely, it was on his face.

  
  


Uncomfortably reminiscent of the early days of their friendship, when they barely knew each other.

  
  


"Why’d you put on that mask?" He asked in what he considered a funny way, putting on an accent, albeit different from George's, desperately hoping to hide his nervousness and dread.

  
  


The middle boy threw back his head listlessly, almost painfully so, and sighed audibly.

  
  


Then, as if overcome by something new, quickly raised his right hand and ripped the white cover on his face off and threw it into the water, the mask sinking down briefly, before slowly coming up above the water level, freaking Sapnap out.

  
  


"Dude! Why the hell did you just do that?!"

  
  


Sure, the mask isn't his, and it's not like Dream hasn't pulled stunts like this before, but something told Sapnap Dream didn't do it intentionally.

  
  


Quickly getting up and jumping over both a sleeping George and the boat border, Sapnap dived next to the innocent floating mask and grasped it by the side, keeping his grip firm and solid.

  
  


The water was unusually cold for added measure, which was a first.

  
  


Dare Sapnap say, it was even colder than it was at five in the morning, when he and George had their quarrel. So, with mild confusion and shattering teeth, whether it was from anger or the freezing temperature, he wasn't sure, Sapnap swum back and, less than gracefully, got back into the boat. He was pretty sure George was now fully awake and beyond annoyed at the consistent harsh movement of the vessel, but so was Sapnap.

  
  


"Dream, seriously-" The youngest began complaining, mostly because he had jumped in fully clothed, and the now thoroughly soaked layers of clothing stuck uncomfortably on his skin, as if latching on to him and not letting him go no matter what Sapnap tried to do, "What the hell was that?"

  
  


But when he raised his head back up to face the green hooded figure, Dream just looked confused.

  
  


"Sapnap, did you see my mask by any chance?" Sapnap fumed.

  
  


" _ 'By any chance' _ ?!" He roared in annoyance, not at all in the mood for playing games, "I just jumped into the motherfucking  _ ocean _ to go grab the stupid  _ mask _ that  _ you _ threw in!"

  
  


Dream, obviously not expecting Sapnap to react so furiously, only raised his arms up in surrender, trying to calm the man down. His face was morphed into that of concern, already knowing that something was wrong and that he himself was most likely the subject of Sapnap's anger.

  
  


"Woah, man, slow down. Sapnap,  _ what happened? _ Why do you mean you jumped into the ocean to grab my mask? When did I even throw it out the boat?"

  
  


The blonde asked calmly, quite the exact opposite of the increasing raging storm that was Sapnap.

  
  


"Dream, for real, stop doing this. What the hell is up with you and George, Jesus." The youngest swung the wet mask right at Dream, half hoping the green eyed boy would catch it, half wishing that the damn thing would be near the end of its use and just break when it'd fall to the ground.

  
  


But even with all of the anger in the world mustered up, he shook his head at the second prayer, deciding it was unfair for him to be annoyed at Dream for being attached to a piece of rotten and chipping wood circle, when he had a bandana that was ripping at the seams himself, that he wouldn't for the life of him throw out. Hell, the same even went for George and his glasses.

  
  


So, with a sigh, he had opened his mouth and mentally prepared a paragraph to spew out at Dream. A monologue filled with profanities and screams, but a weird behaviour description somewhere shoved in there as well.

  
  


Sapnap had just about had it with all the stupid and downright maddening things happening to them, and he knows for a fact that neither Dream nor George are faking this.

  
  


Because, believe it or not, Sapnap's not actually dumb and is desperately trying to figure out what's been happening just as much as both of his elders.

  
  


The older boy had, in fact, caught the spiraling mask towards him, although extremely last second. Sapnap took a deep breath and gazed right into Dream's eyes, watching as confusion turned into slight fear, and opened his mouth to finally lay all of his thoughts out onto the green hoodie wearing male.

  
  


But before he could even say the start of the sentence, the letters got cut right at the root, and Sapnap was mentally sent spiraling backwards from George's scream.

  
  


" _ LAND AHOY! _ "

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


They still couldn't believe it.

  
  


The trio had fully prepared for this to be a stressful and restlessly long journey, had  _ really _ thought it would take them weeks to even see a plot of some kind of land.

  
  


But there it was.

  
  


A simple Plains biome, George's favorite, one he recognized immediately, smack dab in what seemed like in the middle of nowhere.

  
  


He prayed for it not to be an island, downright fell to his knees when they finally rowed over to it and got out.

  
  


It wasn't.

  
  


He could hear Dream crying in happiness behind him, and a thud on the sandy beach, he had most likely tackled Sapnap out of joy and the two fell over.

  
  


_ Real sand. _

  
  


Now that was hard to believe.

  
  


However, next to pleasant surprise and happiness, another emotion clawed at his sides, demanding to make itself known, asking for George to recognize it.

  
  


Even if the less than two full days they spent on the Mushroom island were now behind them, George had realized what the inkling he was feeling was.

  
  


It was longing. Longing with a bit of misery and confusion laced in between letters.

  
  


Although the beach was nice to sit on, to finally see normal waves crashing onto normal pale grain- it felt weird,  _ foreign. _

  
  


George shook his head and turned to his hand, which had picked up the little sparkly and soft texture, and just,  _ stared _ at it for a moment or two.

  
  


Had he grown more attached to the island than he had first thought?

  
  


The entire time he was on the boat, George was glad that they were finally out from the Mushroom's prenatural surroundings and mindfucks.

  
  


But now, now he, what?  _ Missed _ the damn thing?

  
  


Craved the rocky and whatever the fuck the 'fake' sand he felt on his feet on the island was called?

  
  


Why was he feeling the exact opposite of what he thought he'd feel?

  
  


There was probably something wrong with his head, George mused, and pushed the blame onto the boat that rocked them for a day and a half on sea. The water must have been too much and messed around with his emotions.

  
  


The brunet knew that that didn't make any sense of the world  _ at all _ , but at least now the suffocating unknown emotion was lessened and his heart didn't stupidly clench when his mind traveled back to the triangular land as much.

  
  


George had finally stood up and scanned the environment around them.

  
  


His cocoa and aqua eyes flickered around and zeroed in on the two laying bodies, currently covered in sand from head to toe, and his ears registered their dying laughter.

  
  


Thinking about it now, they were being quite loud, how come George didn't hear them at all? Was he that far into his head?

  
  


"Wait- Sapnap- S-Stop, oh my  _ Go-hd _ , I think I'm gonna- Christ, what the hell's wrong w-with you, man?" There Dream went, gasping and failing to breathe as the air escaped his lungs in a wheezing fashion.

  
  


He laughed and cried and downright turned into a poppy from the gasps leaving and entering his throat.

  
  


Sapnap was no different, minus the lung seizure Dream was currently having, punching and hitting the ground as if he just told him the most hilarious joke ever.

  
  


The youngest male was tossing and turning on the sand, laughing with a tear or two running down his face already. He had his stomach clenched, and George could tell the laugh was paining him in a way only laughter itself could.

  
  


Although he had absolutely no clue what the hell had just happened between his two friends, George found himself chuckling as well.

  
  


At first lowly and to himself, then a bit louder, and finally, once he really took in his best friends' facial expressions and the state they were in- sand on their face, in their hair, tied and wrapped around in invisible ropes made out of sand around their clothes, he broke.

  
  


The oldest felt a cackle explode out of him, and he too sunk into the ground, gasping for air.

  
  


Dream had got up mid-laugh, and pulled George closer, right in between the two of them.

  
  


They gave the oldest the same treatment, and soon enough, they weren't the only ones covered in soft, soft grain, three tones of laughter mixing into the air.

  
  


It wasn't all that funny, not to a stranger, but to them, it had seemed like the most brilliant and most hilarious prank of all time.

  
  


Oh, how wonderful it was to finally feel sand.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


It took them a while to finally calm down, much longer than they thought it would.

  
  


Adrenaline rushed and filled their veins and thoughts, making them flop around on the ground in ecstasy.

  
  


Sapnap sat up after Dream finally let him. The male had been wrapped around him like a panda on bamboo, refusing to let Sapnap up, while George had shoved sand into his hair and shoes and shirt.

  
  


He brought a hand up and brushed away the grain with his sleeve, letting a small smile show at the feeling. Beaches were Sapnap's favorite part about adventures, they were always the most relieving and fun, always there for a break.

  
  


"So, team, what's next?"

  
  


A voice interrupted Sapnap's thought process and made him turn back around.

  
  


George had gotten up and was dusting off his long, cuffed, navy blue jeans. His collared shirt had gotten untucked during their wrestling, and his usually neat hair looked as if it had gotten through a hurricane. His glasses laid carelessly on the sand.

  
  


Dream was no better, but the male was actually, even now, laying on his back, enjoying the way the sun hit his face. Despite his hoodie and jeans being a magnet for the daffodil tone gravel, if Dream focused hard enough while his eyes lay closed, he could begin to imagine falling asleep while on an actual beach, on an actual break.

  
  


Sapnap snickered at the differences between those two, and got to work on swatting away at his dirty clothes, however, he wasn't as successful as George.

  
  


Sapnap  _ had _ jumped into water just a few minutes ago, drenching all of his clothes. So, safe to say, maybe  _ he _ was more of a sand magnet. The youngest groaned in irritation, aggressively hitting his thighs in a back and forth motion, yet it barely changed the state of anything.

  
  


"I don't know, Dream," George started uncertainly, as if not knowing how to respond correctly, "first things first, I feel like we should search for more food, and set up camp either on open field or find a cave."

  
  


The blond and dark brunet agreed with George's plan, feeling no need to argue with him on that.

  
  


"I predict we have somewhere around nine hours left of sunlight, so we better move fast."

  
  


Dream raised his head and spoke towards George.

  
  


"How about we start off by scouting out the biome, first? Maybe we'll find a forgotten portal or shipwreck or something. Maybe there's a village nearby." He mused.

  
  


_ Right _ , Sapnap had deliberated,  _ forgot about the portals. _

  
  


Portals were weird to them.

  
  


Familiar and foreign, strange and understandable, simple and complicated, comforting and disturbing, enjoyable, and  _ horrifying. _

  
  


Those were the emotions they felt towards the enigmatic ruins.

  
  


Neither of them were ever able to figure out why the emotions were so two sided. How one moment the otherworldly gateway could feel so threatening, and the other moment, like a soft comfort, almost home-like.

  
  


No one knew when they came to be, where they were from, who built them, or what lied beyond them.

  
  


If they would find a village on the way, one of them would ask the people living there for information, but each time the citizens would look at them weirdly and say they knew nothing of it, never come across one.

  
  


So, they dropped the subject.

  
  


Stopped asking.

  
  


Started looking at the broken portals friendlier, as if they were a known thing only to the three boys.

  
  


It wasn't necessarily an inside joke, or an actual secret that they tried to hide. It was just a little something.

  
  


A little something only for them.

  
  


They stopped calling the purple rings weird, and classified them as normal instead. Pretended to understand everything about them, when they barely knew anything at all.

  
  


And, over time, maybe they lost interest as to why the things existed in the first place.

  
  


Became bored with the idea of even caring about their origins and lore, and only valued them for loot.

  
  


They'd still ponder and wonder about them once in a while, but that became a rarity, the answers always staying the same;  _ I don't know. _

  
  


Sapnap knew that not all of that was true, however. He was sure he wasn't the only one who thought that they knew more about the inner dimensional links than they let on.

  
  


It had felt as if their brains and tongues knew all of the secrets that the trio didn't. As if they were in an inside battle. Sapnap was positive that the reason for those nice emotions was because they  _ knew _ . They  _ knew  _ everything about the portals, everything there was to know, but something made them forget. Something happened and they were forced to figure things out all over again.

  
  


It's as if the feelings swirling inside them were trying to scream at the trio that they were missing a trivial piece of a puzzle, and the boys wanted to listen,  _ needed to _ , but couldn't.

  
  


Come to think of it, it had been a while since they last saw one of the fear inducing egresses.

  
  


"What are the areas they're most common in again?" Sapnap questioned, making Dream raise an eyebrow.

  
  


"What? The portals?" Earning a nod from Sapnap, Dream continued, plopping his head back down with a soft thud, "The Plains, I guess. It's the biome we'd usually find them the most in, right?"

  
  


"Yeah, you're pretty much correct." George added, ever the knowing boy. Although Sapnap did silently thank the oldest for satiating his curiosity, with certainty this time.

  
  


"Split up?" Sapnap finally asked, giving up on removing the sand on his soaked jeans.

  
  


"I call dibs on finding a cave!" George suddenly screamed, and laughed when Dream shouted that he had wanted that job.

  
  


"Guess you should've yelled faster," The brunet mocked and giggled, before stretching and waving backwards towards the two as he began walking.

  
  


"There's no time to waste, you two figure out what you'll be doing, I'll just be on my merry way! We meet up at the beach before sundown, okay? Don't go too far away from each other too, understood?! I'll try my best to stay as close as possible as well!" His yelling gradually decreased, and then it was pitch quiet, leaving the two younger ones to make up a plan.

  
  


"Since you seemed so enthusiastic about the portals, how about you go and find some?" Dream suggested, "I'll take on the food hunting journey."

  
  


"But, Dream- can't you not tolerate the meat?" Sapnap asked in concern, aware that Dream had a problem with that.

  
  


"Who told you I was gonna go hunt animals?" Dream playfully grinned and raised an eyebrow, almost making fun of Sapnap's question, "I'm gonna go try to find wheat and seeds, and anything that's not meat. Maybe come across a village on the way and raid it. One, I got tired of eating the thing, and two, we already have a lot of left over beef. I'm pretty sure we don't need any more."

  
  


Sapnap rolled his eyes at Dream's antics and realized that the man  _ did _ have a point, despite him being rude about the way he waved off Sapnap's care like that, but he knew not to take it personally.

  
  


"Fine," Sapnap wondered how come his eyes haven't gotten stuck at the back of his skull yet, "which way are you headed?"

  
  


"Well, George headed north, so we can go a bit in that direction too, and then break off into west and east. I can take the west and you carry on to the east."

  
  


It made sense, since the only thing currently around them was sand, the only direction open being north.

  
  


Dream and Sapnap carried on yonder, breaking out in short laughs every few seconds as they went. Once the area seemed bigger, the two decided to part.

  
  


Dream had waved him goodbye and sprinted towards open fields, his laughter loud and clear, amusement obvious in the way the man ran with his arms spread out, touching and bending the tall grass that covered his way.

  
  


Sapnap chuckled at his friend and turned around, his pitter patter quiet as the dark brunet took in his surroundings.

  
  


He was looking at more Plains, which didn't surprise him. In the distance though, he could make out the faint outline of a Dark Oak forest towards the left, just barely visible from this distance.

  
  


Sapnap debated going over there, knowing that the only thing the biome was even useful for was the occasional lava pools that were shielded from sight by the dense leaves of thick and tall trees.

  
  


He was searching for portals after all, not hot, scorching small lakes of death.

  
  


So, Sapnap shook his head and brought his attention elsewhere.

  
  


Although, that was it, from what he could see.

  
  


_ I guess I know which direction I'm going now _ , the boy thought.

  
  


Sapnap rotated a bit to the right, and carried on towards the fields alone. It wasn't the first time they traveled alone, but he could admit, was it quiet.

  
  


Sapnap could only hope nothing bad happens to them, for once.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


It seemed as if whatever higher up being was listening to Dream actually decided to be helpful for once, because only a few minutes later after breaking off with Sapnap, the tall man had already fixed his gaze on a pretty sizable village up in the distance.

  
  


_ Bingo. _

  
  


The pace he had going for him simply felt too slow in that moment, and the blond took off towards the opposing houses and farms, his weight leaving indents into the dirt in the form of combat boots.

  
  


On the way there, Dream had wondered what his play would be. Should he play nice, or should he set fire to the land? Would it be more beneficial for him to take everything and destroy the damn thing afterwards, or was it more logical to be civil and restricted?

  
  


Dream sprinted the short distance, finally stopping when his right foot felt gravel underneath it. He looked up with his forest green eyes, and for a quick moment, contemplated if he should hide his face.

  
  


He had decided against it.

  
  


Dream had also decided against the idea of arson, no matter how badly he craved to see bright orange flames dance on top of Oak roofs, reducing them to nothing but ash.

  
  


He entered the village peacefully, his hands in his sweater's front pocket, portraying himself as a simple and nonchalant man, cool and laid-back, as if he was on a journey and just happened to stumble upon this civilization.

  
  


Which, now that he thought about it, wasn't that far off the truth.

  
  


As Dream made his way down the main road, a couple of villagers waved him hello, welcoming him to their humble domain. Dream had raised an eyebrow at this. It was fairly rare to see people so accepting towards the trio, as if they were locals, but Dream only smiled and waved back. A surprise it was, a pleasant one at that, and he wasn't about to take it for granted, he needed the townspeople to like him after all.

  
  


Now Dream was fairly glad he didn't rush in and burn everything like he'd wanted to, with a flint and steel he'd most likely find in a blacksmith.

  
  


Speaking of which, he needed to find one.

  
  


The man in green turned and swiveled around corners of the cobblestone houses, around tree trunks and farms he had been eyeing as a potential food source. He had even spotted three iron golems, to his shock.

  
  


Dream had to remember to think of a way to kill the protective statues, the iron he'd get from the salvageable parts would be immensely useful to him and his friends.

  
  


But he had to reel back, one thing at a time.

  
  


_ Focus, _ Dream scolded himself lightly,  _ you still have a few hours, just be patient and don't fuck this up. _

  
  


He shook his head slightly and hid behind a spacious home of some sorts. If Dream had to make a guess, he'd say he was behind a bucher's.

  
  


Quickly, as if you could actually see his eyes reflecting the thought process his head was going through, Dream came up with a plan, and slowly, but surely, sprung into action.

  
  


First things first, he had to help the villagers farm their crops and keep some for himself.

  
  


That had gone fairly smoothly. The farmer which was currently working on the fields when Dream arrived was friendly and they made nice conversation. His accent was similar to George's, which startled the blond. When Dream asked if he could help, the farmer seemed hesitant, telling the taller man that he was a guest, and didn't have to help.

  
  


However, Dream laughed good-naturedly and waved him off, saying that he wanted to, that he was bored and that the farmer looked to have been needing company. The latter stumbled over his words in slight flush, obviously not expecting his emotions to be read so clearly, but then he smiled and agreed to let Dream help.

  
  


The villager had looked no older than sixteen with shiny brown hair and pearly blue eyes; something that was a rarity these days, excluding George, who had heterochromia, which was probably even rarer. The boy dressed nicely for a farmer, had a respectable amount of muscle, and definitely looked to have more potential to do bigger and better things, than just stay a farmer, and Dream  _ definitely _ voiced this out.

  
  


"You really think so?" The boy, who Dream found out earlier on was named Tubbo, asked with a slight twinkle in his eye, as if he couldn't believe someone was actually telling him this.

  
  


"Of course! I'm not offending you by saying this in any way, am I?" Dream wondered, just to make sure in case he was reading Tubbo's reaction in a wrong way.

  
  


" _ No! _ No, definitely not, it's just- I-" The boy took a deep breath as he yanked a few strands of wheat out of the ground.

  
  


"My best friend lives about a whole day from here if I were to travel on foot. We really want to run away and explore and do fun things, but our villages keep us from going anywhere. I just- I never even find courage to run away, either. I don't know if I would regret doing that, and if I did, they probably wouldn't even want me back."

  
  


A struggle it was.

  
  


Dream looked at the brunet empathetically, before he sighed and pulled strands of his own.

  
  


"Listen, Tubbo, here's a single golden rule."

  
  


At that, the young man perked his ears and his eyes widened. He was paying direct attention.

  
  


"If a thought comes to your brain, in this instance, the want to run away- then you won't have any regrets if you do. If you've already planned what you and your best friend wanna do, then you feel confident enough to survive together. If your village truly keeps you here at bay, then show it who's boss and break free from their restrictions. There's nothing more fun than breaking rules."

  
  


Tubbo stopped for a moment, and just gazed at the soil underneath.

  
  


"You know what, Dream, you're right. You're actually right!" He laughed in disbelief, as if wondering how the hell he hadn't put those two dots together already, although Dream hardly blamed him, knowing full well how that felt.

  
  


"I want to finally start my own adventure. This farming thing sucks!" Tubbo expressed himself by throwing the hoe he'd been holding to the side.

  
  


"Shhh, keep it down! Don't spoil the surprise for them!" Dream whispered and Tubbo laughed in wonder.

  
  


"For real though, thank you for being someone who finally supported me on my wants and dreams. I've been wanting to do this for ages, I just needed that little push of support to confirm that what I was gonna do wasn't selfish or something." Tubbo came down from his euphoria and felt the way his heart clenched and unclenched from sheer happiness.

  
  


Dream smiled fondly, "Always. And it wasn't selfish, Tubbo. People deserve to have their own dreams."

  
  


When they finished, Dream's plan was successful and Tubbo gave him plenty of wheat for free, as well as some seeds. A strong hug from the teenager and a thank you too.

  
  


Dream generously thanked Tubbo and genuinely meant it, hugging him as hard as he could back, wishing the boy to do well in life, to do so many things and stay the best. Even though they had just met, Dream saw Tubbo light up like he had never lit up before once more and the smile on his face beamed, knowing exactly what Dream meant.

  
  


When Dream finally left the golden wheat fields, he stuffed the crops under his armpit and thought about his next action.

  
  


He decided to leave the golems for last, wanting to lead them away from the eyesight of people as much as possible and finish them off. He just hoped he could pull it off correctly.

  
  


It was about time the villagers stopped relying on ancient, questionable statues and started protecting themselves for once, the blond thought bitterly.

  
  


So, with that done, the most logical location to go to next was the blacksmith.

  
  


On his way there, Dream knew he didn't have anything to trade with the blacksmith, so threw that option out the window immediately. He thought about killing the damn person, but had quickly thought that  _ maybe _ that wasn't the most ideal thing to do right now.

  
  


So, naturally, the only thing that was left for him to do was to just rob the place while the blacksmith wasn't looking. Which was going to be quite the challenge and definitely on the harder scale.

  
  


Depending on what he found in the chest, it would either be a fairly simple little raid, or an oncoming bloody massacre. He both prayed and hoped that there was armour in that chest, and wasn't at the same time.

  
  


Because where the hell would he hide the armour? Almost every single person he walked past had seen him with nothing on him, so he only hoped that if he did put the hypothetical armour on, the villagers would just think he bought it, and that the blacksmith would be nowhere in sight.

  
  


Dream needed to further flesh out his plan and make it quick.

  
  


As if his brain disconnected from reality and Dream turned into someone else- the boy immediately sprung into action and ran towards a nearby tree, knocking it down into nothing in seconds.

  
  


His hands worked on autopilot, fingers moving on their own in memorized patterns, putting barely any thought into it.

  
  


Before long, he had two trusty tools before him. Carelessly crafted, but effective and sharp. A shovel and axe, the handle and head wrapped around in rope he tore off the wheat that Tuboo had wound them in.

  
  


For the actions that Dream was about to do, these two were more than perfect.

  
  


Focusing his mind on the task at hand, he stiffened his hold on the wooden axe, the blade whetted and crisp, and cut down one more tree, making planks.

  
  


Dream needed to find the perfect spot,  _ asap. _

  
  


As he turned around, the sight before him almost made him cry from happiness.

  
  


The place was  _ perfect. _

  
  


A big and tall building, which looked to be abandoned, shielded away a huge part of the village, with a wide and thick tree next to the side of it.

  
  


Dream shoved his excitement to the side, knowing he didn't have much time, and grabbed his shovel, digging with speed unknown to mankind. The hole needed to be big and low enough to fit the three golems he planned on trapping.

  
  


When Dream achieved this, he didn't waste any more time, grabbing the couple of planks he made beforehand, situating them at a thirty degree angle against the dirt in the hole.

  
  


This was looking promising.

  
  


The last step was to cut the tree next to the mandug cave enough, so that when pushed, it'd snap and fall. 

  
  


Now, he needed to lure the golems over here without alerting the civilians.

  
  


How was he going to do that?

  
  


Pushing them would take long and would draw attention to him. Hitting them while in an enclosed location would be risky, but might work. And he didn't have any leads to take them with him, so what the hell should he do?

  
  


Then a wild idea popped into his brain.

  
  


Dream was certain it wouldn't work, because weren't the golems supposed to be extremely smart?

  
  


But fuck, if he didn't try it anyway.

  
  


The poppy that was staring at him intensely the entire time while he was working was suddenly starting to annoy him, and Dream snatched the flower right out of the ground, holding it delicately in his hands, an exact opposite of what he’d just done.

  
  


The blond left the hole to look around and find the wandering statues, finally finding the first one.

  
  


_ Hope this works. _

  
  


As he got close to the tall and intimidating golem, he put on a friendly expression and held out his right hand in a welcoming manner.

  
  


The golem's burning canary eyes stared at Dream and the poppy, going back and forth between the two, and Dream started to feel dumb for thinking this could work, slightly scowling at himself for stooping so low. He took a step back and was about to turn around when he noticed the village protector shift closer to the gap Dream made.

  
  


His eyes widened and he extended his arm fully, carefully taking a step back and equally as carefully watching the golem to make sure he didn't imagine it.

  
  


He didn't.

  
  


The golem moved forward again, its eyes fixed on the flower, as if it was suddenly the only thing that mattered to it.

  
  


Dream smirked unnoticeably.

  
  


How the hell could these easily distracted magical moving iron blocks be called protectors, Dream had no idea.

  
  


But he wasn't about to complain.

  
  


So, he started taking larger steps back and the golems took bigger steps forward. One thing led to another and Dream laughed at how dumb the golem looked, trapped in his dug out hole, confused as to where the flower went.

  
  


"Jesus," Dream said in between laughs that may have even been counted as mean, "I don't remember you things being so  _ stupid. _ "

  
  


With a grin as big as a cheetah's who'd just caught his prey, Dream left the befuddled iron golem, on his way to catch his counterparts.

  
  


It took him a while, but after a few minutes and a lot of trying, he had all three of them stationed at the bottom, the planks rested on the dirt forcing them to tilt to the side.

  
  


He couldn't wait until he saw his plan in action.

  
  


Quickly checking everything to make sure it was all correct and there were no bluffs that could ruin it, Dream cleaned up a bit and stuffed his tools to the side, not knowing if he'll even get them after the whole ordeal was done.

  
  


During the time he was cleaning, Dream had started to feel a bit bad for acting the way he did towards the golems. He knew he could be mean, but really, if he was being honest, he felt like a whole other person.

  
  


His 'speedrunning' persona, if he were to go by what George and Sapnap called him. 

  
  


Dream remembered asking them about what it meant and why they had dubbed him as such, and the two only snickered before responding that it was because when he was hyper focused on a task, he worked a thousand times faster and quicker, often forgetting about the outside world, and even turning a bit mean, unaware of emotions.

  
  


Dream had put on an unamused look on his face and said that they were out of their minds, that he never acted like that.

  
  


Upon hearing this, George laughed full-bodiedly and responded, "Dream, me and Sapnap even  _ had _ this convo, we legit predicted that you might say just that!"

  
  


Sapnap continued, wiping away tears from his eyes.

  
  


Dream didn't know why they found it so funny.

  
  


"Of course you'd start denying it, Dream! It's because you turn into a whole nother person and forget everything."

  
  


Dream remembers the whole world freezing and suddenly everything feeling weird.

  
  


Did... did he really act like that?

  
  


George and Sapnap had seen how shaken the guy appeared and immediately sobered up, telling him that they were just joking, that he wasn't even _that_ mean, and that they were used to it.

  
  


The fact that they were used to it made Dream flinch.

  
  


The whole ordeal happened years ago and they all moved on, but Dream-

  
  


Dream never really forgot.

  
  


He had started to control the way he acted when he did tasks around his best friends, but he guessed now that he was alone, the persona just jumped out again.

  
  


_ Nevermind _ , he told himself, gently shaking his head and looking down at the blissfully unaware golems.

  
  


"I'm sorry for acting rude." He softly whispered.

  
  


The golems looked unfazed, probably because they didn't understand him, nor what was about to happen.

  
  


It made Dream feel a bit better, knowing they were mindless and probably never felt offended in the first place, but it eased Dream's heart when he apologized.

  
  


It was time to get to business.

  
  


"I'm also sorry for what I'm about to do to you, but it's not like you'll die. The villagers will probably just revive you, like usual."

  
  


Once again, the golems didn't comprehend a thing, but Dream didn't care.

  
  


He turned around, headed towards the blacksmith.

  
  


Just as the man had suspected, the iron bars at the back had been loose enough for Dream to rip them out of the wall, and drop them to the ground.

  
  


The coast seemed clear, as he ducked his upper body into the window, sprung the chest open and took in his loot.

  
  


A chestplate, a helmet, two iron ingots, three pieces of bread and a couple of sticks.

  
  


Not too shabby, but Dream had to move briskly.

  
  


He grabbed everything out of the chest and hastily put it on, desperately not wanting to be found out. Somewhere along the way, he grabbed a bag that was next to the chest.

  
  


Everything afterwards was a blur. All Dream remembers is running away from the blacksmith to the hole and without anything else to waste, he used his momentum to jump and hit the trunk of the tree with his legs, both him and the tree taking the fall.

  
  


The sight that he was met with made him smile open-mouthed in disbelief, as the trunk slammed onto the planks and the three golems stuck in the ground were launched into the sky.

  
  


Dream, personally, thought that it wouldn't even work, that the planks would snap or that the golems would be too heavy, but said golems currently flying beside the clouds said otherwise.

  
  


When he got up, Dream heard a few voices.

  
  


"Mommy, what's that in the sky?"

  
  


"Oh my god! What is that!?"

  
  


"Are those iron golems I see!?'

  
  


"Where did they come from!?"

  
  


"That's so cool! I wanna fly too!"

  
  


"What the  _ fuck _ is happening!?"

  
  


Shit, he had to move fast.

  
  


The townspeople had already seen the golems, there was no use in trying to be sneaky anymore, otherwise they'd just hog around his soon to be iron and there wouldn't be a way to get through.

  
  


The first thud had been right at the entrance to the village, multiple screams filling the previously calm air. Some kids desperately wanted to run away to shelter, while some wanted to take a look at the dysfunctional iron golems laying down, motionless.

  
  


Some people ran, while some warily stayed.

  
  


Yet Dream was the only one who charged straight for the golems.

  
  


" _ Hey! _ What are you doing!?" An aged man yelled at Dream, who was too busy ripping the vines apart to get to the pieces of the golem that could be of use. He hastily shuffled into his bag the iron he stole, and swung it over his shoulder when he was done, searching for the second golem.

  
  


It laid at the center of the village, close to the bell.

  
  


Annoyed at the people blocking his way, he tossed the bag over their heads and jumped along the sides of houses, using anything and everything he could see to get over to the other side rapidly and effectively.

  
  


Dream crashed onto the ground and grabbed the innocent looking bag on the gravel, sprinting towards the plaza as fast as he could, a trail of dust underneath his feet.

  
  


Adrenaline coursed through his veins as Dream felt a plethora of footsteps barreling towards him from behind.

  
  


He needed to buy time. And  _ fast _ .

  
  


Lucky for him, the golem looked hidden. If he could just create more dust from the gravel and turn the other way, maybe he could trick the civilians into following him.

  
  


Dream did just that. He abruptly stopped, fascinated by the amount of fine particles he managed to produce and pretended to sprint the other way, acting confident in a way that only a person who knew where the golem was, would.

  
  


When he turned the corner again, stuck himself between a little opening of two houses, Dream quietly climbed up the rocky base of these two homes, and climbed on the roof, quickly checking to see if the coast was clear. The crowd chasing him passed him, just like he had suspected.

  
  


Once he confirmed that it was safe, the blond jumped down and jogged back towards the golem, harvesting it with whatever strength he had left.

  
  


The bag was getting heavier, which Dream supposed was a good thing, but  _ man _ was it gonna be a pain in the ass to drag it back towards the shore.

  
  


"Over there!"

  
  


_ Not again _ , Dream thought with a groan.

  
  


Once more, he had gotten himself up on the rooftops, the townspeople not knowing how.

  
  


Like a hawk from a savanna, Dream scanned his surroundings, getting increasingly more worried as to where the third and final golem lay dead, before a scream made him halt.

  
  


_ " Dream! _ _"_ It wasn't Sapnap nor George's voice, it was-

  
  


When he flipped himself around on the roof, he saw Tubbo on the other side of the house, holding a bag of his own.

  
  


"Catch!"

  
  


Dream had barely recognized what those words meant before the satchel came flying towards him, his hand instinctively reaching out to catch it.

  
  


It weighed a bit, and as he peeked inside, his jaw dropped. It was iron, bits and pieces covered in vines and grass, most definitely from the third golem.

  
  


"I saw what you were doing, and I wanted to help! Take this as a thank you for pushing me and making me take that final leap! I'll never forget this day, or you!" Tubbo screamed with a smile that Dream didn't think would suit him as much as it did.

  
  


Brave, confident, smart and ready to fight.

  
  


Tubbo had a sack of his own swung over his ready to face any burden shoulders, filled with food and supplies and tools, and Dream couldn't stop a grin of his own from forming.

  
  


"Just don't die on the way to glory, Tubbo!"

  
  


The boy laughed and raised his fist in the air, as if to signal to Dream that he was beyond ready.

  
  


Next to that shining, pearly white smile, laid eyes. Eyes that twinkled that same way they first did when Dream first talked to the boy. Full of mischief, the good kind, love and youth, and everything else that still held true to his character.

  
  


Tubbo was still Tubbo, just the better him.

  
  


"There he is! Get that filthy, lying prick!"

  
  


"Tubbo, is that you!? What the hell are you doing helping the thief!?"

  
  


The oncoming yells sent alerts to both of them, and they shared a quick grin to show their friendship, respect and loyalty to each other, before turning into opposite directions; Tubbo towards the mountains, Dream towards the waiting beach, the crowd splitting into two to try and catch them.

  
  


Dream laughed in a rush he hadn't felt in ages, feeling so free and careless and alive while being chased by a depleting crowd.

  
  


He doesn't expect a lot of things, Dream thought as he felt fresh evening air blow through his golden locks, taunting the wearily growing people, more and more falling back towards home, but he certainly didn't expect to achieve so much more than what he bargained for in a day.

  
  


He couldn't wait to meet up with his best friends again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know how i did!
> 
> A bit more of a feel good chapter this time, ignoring whatever nonsense was at the start that is xddd
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!!


	4. remembering amnesia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the meantime, Sapnap chose to ignore the rising alarm in his chest. There was no use in worrying over something that shouldn't be worried over yet.
> 
> Yet.  
> 
> 
> Sapnap tightened his jaw.

It took George a while before he found a decently packed cave.

  
  


Until he got to this point, he was convinced he had found at least twenty dead ends; caves that looked promising, but ended up being lies that went no deeper than a couple meters.

  
  


_ An hour of searching,  _ George thought tiredly, _ just to get to this site. _

  
  


The opening was right on the outskirts of a new biome. If George remembered correctly, it was probably a Dark Oak forest, if the deep brown trunks and dim emerald leaves were any indication.

  
  


It was a vertical direction going cave, a type George hated most. Not to say he didn't know how to navigate down one, it was just plain annoying and George instantly felt unmotivated each time he saw one. It simply required too much strength and always left him dirty, covered in mud and pebbles.

  
  


The man would have straight up left this one and went to go find a new cavern, however, there was neither time nor other caves close by. So, sucking up his frustration and dissatisfaction, George braced himself against the walls of the dark cavity, sighed, then began to finally move.

  
  


He carefully slid down the sides of slippery stone, legs used to supporting his upper body, moving in a way to stabilize himself that only experienced climbers knew how, even if George felt his thighs burn a tad, and detected the back of his body getting filthy. He  _ hated _ this.

  
  


The drop down could've been more soft, but it wasn't the worst, even if his ankles took most of the fall and George was pretty sure he was limping now.

  
  


The brunet lifted his eyes and faced the material he was working with. The hollow was spacious, more spacious than George had first assumed. In fact, it only seemed to be getting bigger as it stretched out into the unknown, which George took as both a blessing and a curse.

  
  


Gentle water droplets fell down from stalactites onto the rough ground, mixing in with gravel and dirt. Some even landed in George's soft hair.

  
  


He ruffled it, annoyed that it was this wet already. It was definitely going to curl now.

  
  


The atmosphere was a dark shade of see-through fog and the echo of small sounds made George tighten his posture and stand guard. He brought the torch he had stuffed in his bag that he had found along the way beforehand out, and sharply swung it in a sideways motion, against the driest part of stone he could find.

  
  


A whoosh and a crackle later, and George was holding a surprisingly powerful flame. It was bright enough to feel warmth, which George was thankful for. It was starting to get a bit chilly.

  
  


He wandered down cautiously, aware that he could get jumped at any second by a creeper or skeleton. A shield would be nice; the faster he could make one, the better.

  
  


The dripping water was beginning to come at George's nerves and he despised it. Because the brunet knew he was just telling himself that to convince himself of the otherwise very obvious. He was starting to get afraid.

  
  


At this point, in any other scenario, there would have already been at  _ least _ three mobs and George would've slaughtered all of them with no struggle. He knew adrenaline would be rushing through him in pumps at the thought that if he made any mistake, he would face death with his own two eyes.

  
  


But none of the sort had happened yet, and he would be lying if he said it didn't bother him.

  
  


It should be a good thing, it  _ should. _ But George's heart couldn't stop racing and his hands were starting to tremble the deeper he went. He needed a monster to swing at him from any sort of shadow  _ now, _ so that his brain would be occupied with thoughts of survival, and not thoughts of being alone in a lonely hole underneath layers and layers of soundproof dirt.

  
  


But there was no mob to do so.

  
  


George profusely cursed and tightened his grip.

  
  


He wasn't going to die today. Not in this wretched salt smelling cavern, where no one would come help him. George was on his own and he could be on his own. He could take whatever was thrown his way.

  
  


The anxiety eased by a lot, surprising George. He felt blood rush to his hands again and they didn't feel as cold anymore, even if they were right by the burning hot fire. His chest didn't clench as much and his mind felt clearer.

  
  


He could think again. And it wasn't about death.

  
  


George's internal monologue ended, however, when the ground beneath his feet dipped by just a couple centimeters and instantly, George pushed himself reeling backwards towards safety, yelping in surprise as all of his limbs froze.

  
  


He was glad he'd done so too, because once George regained balance and instead crawled over to the dip in stone, he realized that it was a tilt leading to certain demise in a ravine.

  
  


The boy sighed in relief, although he wasn't certain whether it was more from the fact he had just cheated death, or more because he found a ravine, that, from where he could see, was already brimming with ores.

  
  


_ Well, can't stop here. _

  
  


George had to keep moving.

  
  


His back hurt from the fall, but he did suppose it was better than to be at the bottom of the ravine already, all bloody and broken, and, most certainly, dead.

  
  


He stood up carefully, a safe distance away from the dip and assessed the predicament he found himself in, letting out a shaky breath.

  
  


George immediately ruled out the possibility of mining down. He _ barely  _ had anything, let alone any tools, and he wasn't about to go punching stone for decades until his knuckles broke. He didn't bring it up to either Sapnap or Dream, simply because he didn't want them to worry about the shortest male, but his hands  _ ached. _

  
  


Ever since he finished the damn mushroom boat, his hands had been hurting, a dull pain in the back of his mind. Like a numbness had wrapped and weaved around his palms and fingers, rendering them senseless, but not enough to disregard the suffering scratching at skin.

  
  


Safe to say, he wasn't doing the best.

  
  


What's next then? George peeked down again.

  
  


His eyes squinted, straining his eyesight to hopefully see  _ anything _ that could prove to be useful.

  
  


George was about to give up and just look for another way down, maybe he missed a certain opening in the cave, or something, when something caught his attention in both visual and audio.

  
  


Water. There was water at the bottom.

  
  


The quiet ripple of flowing liquid made the colorblind boy light up with renewed hope, his mind already turning gears and coming up with billions of plans.

  
  


The most obvious thing to do, however, was to just jump down. He had nothing on him that could help him get down at least a _ little _ lower, so all George could do was just pray that the water wasn't as shallow as it sounded.

  
  


He took a few steps back, psyched himself up, and  _ ran. _

  
  


The jump had been perfectly calculated, positioned in  _ just  _ the right place that George thought was the winning route.

  
  


A few suspenseful seconds later and George is drenched from the waist down. He winced at the cold water biting at his skin, pricking it with miniature needles, but he survived, thank god.

  
  


His body throbbed, both from tension before the fall and from the impact. The brunet was surprised he wasn't fully limping yet.

  
  


The torch was thankfully still lit, George had done his best to keep it as furthest away from the flowing stream as possible and was extremely thankful for its dancing fire show heating him up a bit once more.

  
  


He dragged himself out of the aqua and onto dry rocks. George grimaced in disgust and felt himself become heavier, as if gravity decided it wanted to pull the male even closer to its core.

  
  


Looking around, the ravine looked like any other ravine he had ever explored. A bit on the bigger side and definitely more dangerous, but exciting nevertheless.

  
  


George took a deep breath in and released an even harder exhale, his eyes suddenly glazing and instinct taking over. He trusted his memory to know what to do from here.

  
  


As if on cue, his left hand tossed the torch over to his right, which crashed the blazing stick into the ground. The male dug into his bag, bringing out a couple sticks and rope, twisted and tied from the fungi. George thought he had gotten as sick as he could from the mushroom stench and look already, and would truly do anything he could to not hold it in his arms again, but deep inside, the boy knew it had proved to be useful in every single situation they had encountered so far, so clearly, there was something magical about it.

  
  


He shaved part of a thicker stick down to a pointy edge on a sharp rock and was satisfied when he took an experimental swing at the wall, watching as the stone cracked fairly easily.

  
  


George weaved the rope around the branch handle and pointy head of the soon to be pickaxe. It wasn't as sturdy as George would have liked it to be, but it would definitely do.

  
  


From that point on, time seemed to both slow down and speed up simultaneously. George's head spun from the random bursts of energy he'd get and then completely shut down while mining stone.

  
  


After a few tedious minutes of the sound of cracking cobblestone, George was finally able to get a new pickaxe head without the damn thing snapping in two accidentally. He could feel his blood boil from the intense amount of annoyance and if this shape would have cracked as well, George might have just ended himself right then and there.

  
  


Wandering further out, the torch back in his right hand and the new and improved pick in his left, George began his search for iron ore, hoping to find some deeper in the caves branching out from the ravine. He had already gotten the ones he saw up above, which if George calculated correctly, when smelted,  _ should _ give him about nineteen ingots. Which wasn't bad at all by all means.

  
  


Everything was going smoothly so far, other than the fact that George _ still _ hasn't even _ seen _ a single mob. The thought was nagging at him in the back of his head, no matter how much the male tried to shut it out.

  
  


It was uncomfortable. Too quiet and strange and suffocating for the caves to be this void of life. Or death, George supposes, since the mobs themselves were already lacking as much life as they could be.

  
  


George wasn't saying that hearing the groans and hisses from zombies and creepers was any better, but damn, at least he'd know he wasn't completely alone. At least  _ then _ he wouldn't have to worry about being jumped.

  
  


For the nth time this hour, George visibly shook his body out of the trance he had put himself in and forced himself to just focus on the task at hand.

  
  


Finding iron.

  
  


The caves weren't as packed as George thought at first, but it was definitely decent. Thinking logically, if Dream found a village, there wasn't any doubt he'd kill all the golems and raid the blacksmith, which most likely had a couple iron ingots and armour or tools already. And if Sapnap found a few ruined portals, then he'd definitely discovered the chests which had at least a bit of iron.

  
  


Doing some maths, George guessed they had enough for the gear. And if they didn't, it wasn't a huge loss.

  
  


When he got what he supposed was everything he could find, George braced himself for a dangerous melding.

  
  


While clawing his way around the echoing walls of rock, George had managed to dig through a wall when he heard familiar pops of lava. He nearly fell into the pool when his ankle slipped and bent at a weird angle, but miraculously, the brunet managed to save himself for a second time.

  
  


The lava glowed a comforting orange and yellow, and George took a moment to calm down by sitting on the ledge he created. His legs dangled dangerously above the igneous rock, one push and he'd be gone, but George swirled those thoughts away and willed himself to enjoy this. The least he could do is warm up, his legs have been shaking ever since the fall.

  
  


Looking at the way the molten pumice glistened and popped reminded George of when they used to be so scared of it. He sharply remembers almost screaming Dream's ears off when the younger boy got even a tad bit closer to it.

  
  


The liquid had been new to them, something they only heard of once or twice in their life, filled with captivating secrets they desperately wanted to uncover, but didn't want to risk losing their lives over.

  
  


Although now, George pondered with a scoff on his face, eyes fixated on the change in gradient, the lava hardly even phased them.

  
  


There was something else though.

  
  


The scoff turned into a frown, his eye color a dead bark and ice, what was that something else?

  
  


George could tell that his instincts were trying to tell him  _ something _ . Something about water and lava having a connection, but the male could not figure it out for the life of him.

  
  


The lava was important, _ why _ was it important?

  
  


George screeched when an ember fell on his leg, the pain instantaneous. He vigorously swatted at his left thigh and the glowing coal rolled off back into the lava. He whined in agony and held his leg close to his chest, the burn radiating to every single limb he had.

  
  


George figured it was time to get moving again.

  
  


What was he even thinking about?

  
  


He couldn't recall.

  
  


The brunet got up and turned to the side, mining out a simple staircase down to the level of the pool, where he saw a bit of an opening that he could situate himself in.

  
  


Slowly, but surely, the young man dragged all of the iron he collected down, which was quite a lot. He would need a long break after this.

  
  


The heat from the molten rock was beginning to get irritating, the sweat increasingly building up above George's brows and over his entire body. The boy was lightheaded and felt himself lose his grip on reality the tiniest bit.

  
  


Aggravated, but determined to move on, George pushed through.

  
  


The latter knew how hard it was to melt iron, especially already into a shape. It was possible, but it took immense patience which George was lacking at the moment. Had it been a different day, the boy would be as unbothered as anything else, but right now his sanity was wearing thin. Like a single string of hair holding tons upon tons of weight.

  
  


One snap, and the whole thing would collapse.

  
  


That's why George was perhaps the most dangerous in terms of keeping it together. The two younger ones' impatience would slowly creep out of them over time, letting them get more agitated day after day. George, however, would keep his cool until he physically couldn't anymore. Once the damn set loose, that's when he'd turn into a monster, as Dream and Sapnap phrased it.

  
  


George was fully aware of this.

  
  


He set the iron as close to the lava pool as he could muster, wishing he had stolen Dream's leather gloves when the man wasn't looking. His hands were  _ not _ going to look pretty after this, no matter how careful he was.

  
  


The shape was that of a sole, the first part of the iron boots he wanted to create.

  
  


At first, parts of stone that were stuck inside the iron burned away, leaving behind a nice, shiny metal. George grabbed one of the multiple sticks he still had in his messenger bag, and shaved the tip of it into a pointy edge. Slowly, he began pushing and scraping the sides of the puddle of metal, carefully designing it into the desired shape.

  
  


It was a long and boring and  _ very _ dangerous process, but after he'd get the shape, George would scrape the design away from the lava, setting it on the side to cool.

  
  


Repeat, smolder the pieces that needed smoldering, remelt or clean up the armour pieces and tools, and about three hours later, George had pretty much everything.

  
  


Everything hurt and he felt high on the fumes and smoke from the lava that generated them. He didn't have everything on the dot, simply because he knew that Sapnap and Dream would come back with goods of their own, but any crucial essentials they would most likely need were made.

  
  


The glasses wearing man stood up, wobbling a little bit on his feet, immediately moving away from the lava pool, hoping that if he _ did _ fall down accidentally, it wasn't in the source that brought painful death.

  
  


George had mentally memorized the plan of the interconnecting chasms before, so it wasn't difficult for him to find his way out. He left the materials behind, knowing that after he got both Dream and Sapnap, they'd just go back in the cave.

  
  


After a little while of climbing around, George had found his original entrance. He grinned in relief and found a surge of energy course through his veins, helping him get out of the almost completely vertical hollow entrance.

  
  


Once he finally escaped, George hissed while turning away. The orange sun blinded him temporarily and it took him a while to get used to nature. How long has he been in there for the sun to be this low already?

  
  


The answer must've been long, so without anything further to waste, George set out back on the path he had made himself.

  
  


It felt nice to breathe in fresh and crisp air after being stuck down there for hours, and almost instantly, George felt better, refreshed and alive.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


The grass felt soft against his sides, the familiar Plains biome inviting in a way that made Sapnap remember everything about what made it special.

  
  


They often started their games of cat and mouse in the lovely green fields, raided and destroyed the most villages here, and definitely laid on the ground watching northern lights here the most.

  
  


It felt as if seasons didn't exist within this vicinity, the biome forever stuck in a warm, spring-like atmosphere. The days were heated just to a point where the water would be warm on their skin, and the nights were barely cold, the grass strands often tickling them with a faint whisper of past sunlight rays.

  
  


Sapnap knew that the boys unquestionably held some sort of fondness for the ecosystem. There was just something so nostalgic and comforting about the grassy, sunflowery meadows.

  
  


The boy walked with a smile on his face, enjoying the way the sun hit him just right, the temperature  _ just _ the way he liked it.

  
  


It felt like a fairytale.

  
  


He kept his eyes peeled for any red and purple and gold against the viridescent background.

  
  


Sapnap was convinced he had been walking for close to half an hour when he spotted it, hidden just right by the tree foliage. Had the male not bent down to pick at the cornflower he saw below him, and not averted his eyes to the side of his traveled path, he without a doubt would have missed it.

  
  


It was the portal.

  
  


Overcome with determination and sudden blitheness, Sapnap grew to life and turned a sharp left, beelining towards the slowly uncovering ring of mystery.

  
  


The portal was of average size, netherrack tainting the nature around it. Pockets of lava spewed out molten rocks, some of them seemingly wanting to hit Sapnap, which the male carefully avoided.

  
  


However, the dark haired boy forgot about the burning heat the magma below him could bring. A slip up caused him to step on the scorching rocks with his right foot. Sapnap screamed in surprise and instinctively ripped his leg away from the red stones, holding it close to his chest.

  
  


His foot had numbed and Sapnap cringed when he carefully placed it back down. Now not only was he soaking wet, he was also in pain, _ great. _

  
  


That did give him an idea, though, so maybe the magma wasn't  _ completely _ useless after all.

  
  


He took a look around, searching for the chest filled with loot that should be here somewhere, Sapnap just hoped to god it wasn't buried under. When his eyes caught sight of the Oak colored box, he breathed a sigh of relief.

  
  


This time, he made sure to look where he was going, the last thing he wanted to do was to fall in the lava, which would be as terrifying as it would be embarrassing.

  
  


Sapnap trekked his way around the obsidian circle, eyeing the gold block up above. If there was a pickaxe inside the chest, the block would be the first thing he'd mine.

  
  


Kneeling down, Sapnap launched the chest open, the lid almost breaking under the sheer force the male unnecessarily used. The first thing he spotted was the multiple pieces of iron nuggets spewn all over the place. At the far left corner of the small box laid an abandoned, unused, enchanted golden axe. Sapnap eyed the glow of the metal, shades of blue and purple dancing around together in swirls on its surface.

  
  


It had been a while since he saw something so shiny and glowy, he wondered who enchanted it. His first guess was either a witch or a cleric, but it didn't really make sense to him.

  
  


Villagers usually weren't known to be warriors outside of their own village, let alone actually fighting with want. It's why they created golems, the lazy idiots. And a witch just simply didn't fit here. Why would a witch leave a perfectly good axe next to a broken, eerie gateway to the unknown?

  
  


Sapnap looked up at the purple and black crystal blocks.

  
  


Did... did whoever or  _ whatever _ was through  _ there _ make it? Was the weapon a result of some outside entity?

  
  


Last time Sapnap checked, only a few people knew how to enchant this good. The axe looked untouched. Any amateur who didn't know what they were doing would mess something up during the process and let the metal crack or deteriorate every time. Only experts could do it perfectly.

  
  


A shiver ran down Sapnap's spine, his eyes bulging more and more in horror as he stared the portal down.

  
  


Just what the  _ hell _ was through there?

  
  


If Sapnap was being honest, the only people who even  _ knew _ how to  _ properly _ curse an item with magic and otherworldly power was the trio. The team was a solid unit, inseparable given their skills that interconnected.

  
  


George was able to somehow read the language of the ancient books, which neither Sapnap nor Dream knew just how the fuck the oldest was able to do it. George didn't know either.

  
  


Dream was able to infuse the sorcery spells into the item they needed to enchant. Through the help of George helping him say the words loudly for the spell to work, he would place one of his hands on the book, the other on the object. Somehow, the magic would transfer over.

  
  


And Sapnap would finish the job by hammering the spell into the thing to ensure safety and security. It's what would give the item that famous shine in the first place. Not once did Sapnap ever make a mistake or cause the enchant to break and carry over to the material, causing it to crack likewise. Sapnap's job was to just essentially even cause the enchantment to work, seeing as it was one thing to infuse it, and another to actually get it to work.

  
  


The three have worked like that since the beginning of time and were always surprised to see how very little people knew that it was a fairly normal thing to carry around glowing gear.

  
  


If Sapnap recollects correctly, they once entered a village, for once in a blue moon not with the intent to cause chaos, and were surprised to find themselves called demons and spawns of hell by the town's citizens. They looked at George's bow in terror, they ran from Dream's axe and some even fainted from seeing Sapnap with his crossbow, the arrows wrapped in gold.

  
  


The trio fled the village shortly after, still determined to be on peaceful terms with the villagers, even if they most likely would never be let in it ever again.

  
  


Another time, George had once asked the librarian for ancient scrolls and books just out of curiosity. What the oldest didn't expect was for the librarian to look at him with eyes filled with relief and fear at the same time. Next thing he knew, the elder male had practically thrown the glowing objects at George, saying he could have them for free of charge, to just get them the hell away from the man.

  
  


Needless to say, George met Dream and Sapnap outside the library with a grin, but a confused manner in his irises, his hands aching from the weight of the books.

  
  


So yeah, enchantments weren't  _ particularly _ common around these areas.

  
  


Now that Sapnap even thought about it, clerics were usually banned from the towns due to the people's fear of magic. It's why they had such difficult luck finding the potion selling individuals when they came across a town. Or why librarians were so keen on hiding the glowing books from the population of that which they lived in. Even simply throwing away the magical volumes felt too dangerous to them, in fear of getting cursed.

  
  


It was confusing and it wracked Sapnap's brain too much. Enough of thinking of the past and coming up with excuses.

  
  


For the meantime, Sapnap chose to ignore the rising alarm in his chest. There was no use in worrying over something that shouldn't be worried over yet.

  
  


_ Yet. _

  
  


Sapnap tightened his jaw.

  
  


Turning his head to the side, he was thankful to see a pickaxe also from gold, bearing a similar violet glow. At least he knew he could now get the gold block. Then, right next to the pick, laid a flint and steel, which was likewise incredibly useful.

  
  


Apart from that, that seemed to be it.

  
  


Sapnap got up from his kneeling position and picked up the objects.

  
  


He dropped everything next to the chest and held only the pick. There was really no other way to grab the golden metal other than using the obsidian as leverage, and Sapnap was hesitant to do so. However, after a bit of pep talk, he counted down from three and heaved himself up on the broken corner of the portal, ending up on top.

  
  


The crystal felt weird on the skin of his palms. Warm and cold at the same time, as if fighting for dominance over which temperature should succeed. Sapnap could only describe the feeling as his hands getting so cold, that they'd start to burn. An uncomfortable dilemma.

  
  


Nevertheless, the male moved on and broke the jewel from its stand on the stone below. It happened fairly fast and Sapnap mused in wonder. Efficiency, probably. He caught the block in his hands and cringed at its weight. If Sapnap wasn't going to get buff after this, he may as well just throw a tantrum until he did.

  
  


The youngest boy jumped down carefully and took a cursory glance around, just to make sure he didn't miss anything.

  
  


There didn't seem to be anything of value left for him to grab and Sapnap sighed in relief. It was way too hard to move in these damp clothes.

  
  


Speaking of his soaked clothing, Sapnap revisited his earlier idea on magmas. If he was correct, technically, magmas didn't cause any damage to inanimate objects. So, if perhaps Sapnap used this to his advantage, and laid his clothes on top of the red rocks, _ technically,  _ his clothing should dry faster.

  
  


Only way to find out was to try it, he guessed.

  
  


He gleefully ripped off his layered tops and sweats, untied his shoes, and watched as water ran out of the footwear in a small little stream. Sapnap cringed at how much water there was in them. His foot was probably all wrinkly and gross.

  
  


Once he rid himself of the multiple fabrics, Sapnap carefully laid them out on the rocks, grinning when he saw them not burn, and instead actually, slowly dry off.

  
  


At least that was finally taken care of.

  
  


While they were drying off, Sapnap plopped down next to the grass, enjoying the way the grass instantly tickled his face and naked body. Thin strands of lime green curled around his thighs and neck, and Sapnap felt at peace, like he was trapped in a dream he didn't even want to leave.

  
  


The young male closed his eyes with a smile on his face and let himself rid of the guard his mind was occupied with. His shoulders slumped down and his back felt loose, arms laying listlessly against his sides, twirling the grass between slim fingers.

  
  


The dark brunet laid there for what felt like hours, when it was probably only less than ten minutes. When it was time to get up, he grabbed his clothes, thankful they were fully dry. As he put them back on, small shivers ran down his spine and arms, hairs standing straight at the comforting warmth they felt.

  
  


Reaching down, the youngest grasped at the tools laying down, still shining and mysterious. He kept the axe in his right hand, but the pickaxe got strapped in the back, weaved through the loop in his belt straps Sapnap had as part of his outfit. He hooked the flint and steel on the belt on his right, upper thigh. And the block, as well as the nuggets, were simply secured in Sapnap's left hand.

  
  


He turned around to leave, set on his mission to hopefully find a couple more portals before he had to turn around and go back to the shore.

  
  


As Sapnap took his first step away, a shock ran through him.

  
  


That of comfort, carelessness, laid back mannerisms, happiness and excitement.

  
  


Sapnap turned around in a heartbeat, his mind filling with the same concepts he had first thought of when Dream had mentioned the portals in the first place.

  
  


The gateway all of a sudden felt familiar and calm, with nothing to be afraid of and nothing to question, confusing Sapnap again with the emotions he was feeling, angering him at the fact that his brain seemed to be split in two.

  
  


However, the previous negativity towards the black ring seemed to have evaporated, and Sapnap swirled back around, heading deeper into the Plains.

  
  


Suddenly, the enchantments made sense, but if you asked Sapnap why, he couldn't tell you.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Dream was the first one back at the coastline.

  
  


The male was slightly concerned at first, before he realized that it was still fairly early in the evening. In fact, the sky was just beginning to turn a shade of orange and a darker tone of blue.

  
  


Dream guessed he didn't spend equally as long in the village as he had first thought.

  
  


He silently wondered how his friends were doing and if they were okay. They probably were, Dream assured himself, he knew them well and that they could easily defend themselves.

  
  


Once he finally gave in and crashed on the fluffy sand, closing his eyes and letting his body relax, having taken off the stolen armour, Dream listened to the waves and to his steadying heartbeat.

  
  


He'd been running from the village for what felt like days to him. Since the village was pretty close to their shoreline, Dream had to take the sacrifice and run in a massive circle in order to fully lead the townspeople away. Had he run straight, for all he knew, the villagers would know where his general direction was, and bring back reinforcements. Just to make it a bit easier on his heart and to ensure safety to him and his friends, Dream opted to take a sharp turn to the side and let the townspeople falsely think they knew where he was headed.

  
  


When Dream was finally sure he had gotten them off his trail, given how fast he ran and how quickly more and more people fell back, he stopped running to take a break, and resumed his journey back slowly, circling around the area.

  
  


Surprisingly, he managed to find the sandy beach in a little bit over an hour, which surprised him and made Dream a tiny bit scared, beginning to think that maybe he didn't lead them as far off as he had hoped.

  
  


However, he shook that thought out of his mind and forced himself to ignore it. It's not like they were going to stay here forever in the first place, no matter how cool that would be.

  
  


Why?

  
  


Well... Dream didn't know.

  
  


All he knew is that the feeling to always  _ keep moving _ has been locked tight into his cognitive function ever since he could remember.

  
  


He  _ feels _ like he knows, but Dream never understood the extent of it. Never  _ actually _ knew, even if he so called 'did'.

  
  


He wondered suddenly if his best friends felt this way as well. Part of him immediately said yes, but another part took a while to think.

  
  


Dream would be lying when he said they didn't take stops and do crazy shit to pass the time or to make themselves entertained in different ways. It was a natural instinct for them and it wasn't anything that made them question it.

  
  


However, Dream always noted how they didn't build a house themselves. How they didn't have a home to call their  _ home _ . How all they knew was to steal the hay bales they zeroed in on at villages, instead of having a farm of their own.

  
  


Maybe it was their lifestyle, but Dream was pretty sure that they'd take sleeping in a warm, wooly bed inside of a cozy house, warmed by the fireplace they'd have installed, instead of rolling around on the wet floor of a cave with barely anything to cover themselves with, anytime.

  
  


And sure, maybe they've gotten used to it, but then why did Dream crave to have a permanent place to relax at so much?

  
  


He's even had dreams about it. About building a big square house out of brick on a shallow lake, connecting bridges to all four sides for easy access. In some instances, he'd even imagine an upstairs with walls made out of glass, housing little fish and other marine life on the other side.

  
  


One time, the dream had felt so real to him, that when Dream woke up, he'd taken even a second to look around and tell himself that it was just his nighttime imagination, as he'd been wondering why he woke up in a tree the trio had situated themselves in, rather than waking up next to his friends surrounded by the comfort of their ugly, but very much beautiful, red brick little walls.

  
  


As Dream continued to lay on the grain, he felt himself slip away, giving in to exhaustion and the sudden want to sleep away time. The young male was just about to fully lose consciousness, when he felt loud swearing reach his ears, jolting him out of sleepy wonderland.

  
  


Was that Sapnap?

  
  


The voice increased in agitation and sheer power of profanity. Whatever the youngest was struggling with, Dream needed to help as fast as possible before the former lost his mind.

  
  


Dream finally stood up and located where the voice was coming from; it was the same direction the male had first gone in when they split up. As he jogged towards the beginnings on the other side of the Plains, he saw what he could only describe as the saddest, yet most impressive sight ever.

  
  


There Sapnap was, covered in gold and barely even walking from the amount of stuff he found. His eyes lit up with renewed hope when he set his gaze on the man in the lime hoodie.

  
  


" _ Dream! _ Please, dude, help!" At that, the mentioned male ran to Sapnap's aid, taking the three blocks of gold he had stacked up and balanced on his forearms away, as well as taking a few tools too.

  
  


Sapnap heaved out a breath, as if he finally felt free. "Thanks, man."

  
  


"Not a problem. Jesus Christ, how much shit did you find? How many portals was this?"

  
  


Sapnap held out three fingers in the air, very much struggling to walk even a single inch forward. Dream didn't find it in himself to tease the youngest male, finding that, already, his arms were starting to hurt by the amount of things he was holding, and he was barely even holding them for a minute!

  
  


If Sapnap was carrying all of this for as long as he did, which, clearly, he  _ did, _ then Dream could only begin to grasp the amount of pain the male was in.

  
  


"Hey, c'mon, the shore is really close, you've practically made it." Dream encouraged calmly.

  
  


Seeing as Sapnap was in no state to even walk those few meters left, Dream quickly ran back to the same stop he had been laying in minutes prior and dumped everything next to his bag full of iron and wheat.

  
  


When he ran back, he quickly told Sapnap to hold the leftover tools and resources he scavenged tightly, and before the youngest even knew it, he was picked up from the ground, safe and secure in Dream's arms.

  
  


The youngest immediately fell lax, head thrown back, clearly enjoying this.

  
  


"Finally," he started, in an all teasing, high-pitched voice, "my prince in shining armour came to help me!"

  
  


"Shut the fuck up, before I goddamn drop you this very second." Dream barked out, with a clear and wide grin on his face.

  
  


Beginning to walk forwards, his tone changed into that of softness, laced between concern.

  
  


"You're good, right? Nothing you can't manage?"

  
  


Sensing the caring tone, Sapnap smiled gently, appreciating his friend's worry.

  
  


"Nah, I'm fine, I promise. Just way more loot than I was expecting, I guess. Will definitely have to lay down and rest, though, my back is killing me."

  
  


They had reached the beach now. Dream carefully bent down and laid Sapnap on the soft sand, colored in a vibrant orange from the increasing density of the setting sun rays. The youngest treasuring the gesture and purring in gratitude, letting go of the remaining stuff he had gathered. If he fell asleep, then Dream would let him.

  
  


As Dream took a look around, the dark brunet had managed to acquire three gold blocks, three pairs of golden boots, a couple flint and steels, two pickaxes and a single axe, as well as a single golden helmet and a couple handfuls of both iron and gold nuggets. That certainly was a hell lot of weight to carry, for that much time as well.

  
  


"I really need to talk to you about the portals." Dream jumped in surprise, not expecting the boy to be awake. He thought he'd crashed the second Dream dropped him on the sand, but he guessed not.

  
  


"What about them?"

  
  


He was curious to see what Sapnap needed to tell him, and he was even more interested to see if it was the same thing that he had thought of a couple times as well.

  
  


"Am I the only person that feels really weird about them?" He started, bluntly, "Like, my mind is split in two? How like- it's as if, I- i-it's like I know  _ everything _ about the goddamn things, how they're so comforting and not at all scary, but then the other part of my brain is scared shitless? That the thing  _ is _ scary as hell?  _ Please _ tell me I'm not the only one."

  
  


Dream let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. So, he  _ wasn't _ the only one.

  
  


"You're gonna be surprised when I tell you I know  _ exactly _ what you're talking about." He laughed out loud, sitting down next to Sapnap, touching the mask on the side of his forehead.

  
  


_ "Shut up!" _ Sapnap yelled in disbelief as he turned on his side and propped himself up with his elbow, staring Dream right in his eyes.

  
  


"I'm not lying! Why would I lie about that!?" Dream asked incredulously, a smile on his face, the eyes crinkled to a point where Sapnap wondered if the man could even see.

  
  


"It's like you're not sure if you should feel safe or afraid, right? Like some sort of déjà vu, but for feelings. I know, I thought about it as well and felt the same."

  
  


Sapnap sighed for what felt like the thousandth time. They did that a lot these days.

  
  


Sighing.

  
  


"Well, at least now I know I'm not crazy." The youngest joked, earning a wheeze from Dream in return.

  
  


"Should we try to repair them sometime? Hopefully light them up?" The older man suggested out of nowhere. If he really thought about it, he wasn't sure how to even get the portal to work, but if he used common sense, Dream could only guess it was to do with the flint and steels and a couple obsidian crystals laying untouched in the chests.

  
  


"Are you  _ insane?! _ We don't know what's through there!" Sapnap screamed in retaliation. The youngest male didn't understand why he was this uncertain about the idea. Jesus Christ, he felt like George, it was  _ that _ fool's job to worry and make them second guess their decisions, not his!

  
  


The whole portal thing must've really fucked with his paranoia levels.

  
  


"That's why I'm suggesting it in the first place. We'll never know until we try."

  
  


Sapnap scoffed.

  
  


Yeah, it was dangerous as shit, and he made that very clear to the older male and himself, however, he couldn't help but admit that he was a bit curious. Maybe the fear was finally beginning to wear off.

  
  


"C'mon, I'm sure even George feels like this, he'll agree with me!" Dream pushed on.

  
  


"Don't you  _ dare _ use the George card on me, that man is a wild horse! You can never predict his answers!" Sapnap disagreed, "For all you know, he just might say no."

  
  


"Then I'll convince him myself!"

  
  


_ "Dream!" _

  
  


Dream wheezed and hunched forwards, clearly taking the piss out of angering the youngest.

  
  


"Stop with the act, Sapnap. I know you want to light up the portal as much as I do. We'll be  _ fine.  _ If the portals are somehow making us feel safe sometimes, then  _ clearly _ there's nothing to worry about, right?" Dream asked in wonder, which,  _ okay, _ maybe Sapnap thought about that too.

  
  


Sapnap backed down. "Fine, I guess you  _ do _ have a point."

  
  


Dream pumped his fist in the air and Sapnap couldn't help but laugh along with him.

  
  


"Alright, alright, you got me." The youngest grinned, getting an eye roll from Dream, "How do you suggest we get them to work?"

  
  


Dream responded instantly, clearly having thought about this prior, and Sapnap didn't know whether to be scared or impressed.

  
  


"Flint and steel!" He exclaimed.

  
  


Sapnap took a while to process the information given and nodded after imagining all the different scenarios in his head.

  
  


"I don't see why it  _ wouldn't  _ work, so yeah, why not?"

  
  


Dream looked at the aforementioned flint and steel and smiled, "Guess I know what's next on our bucket list."

  
  


Sapnap closed his eyes back up and let himself think about what could be through there.

  
  


Given the netherrack, which now that Sapnap even thought about it, how did he even know the name of that stuff? Clearly, it was the universe  _ pushing  _ Sapnap to go through the portal with his best friends. Given the red rock as well as lava and magma, Sapnap could only guess it was everything but a cold dimension, so that was at least obvious.

  
  


Whether or not that was good though, would be a topic for another day.

  
  


He willed his brain to put a stop on the portal and turned his head towards the blond instead.

  
  


"How do you think George is doing?" Sapnap asked tiredly. The sun was setting slowly, however, he knew that the quicker they reunited, the better.

  
  


"I don't know, if I'm being honest, I'm kind of worried. It's been a long while since he's been gone. I'd say I got here a little less than an hour before you, and it's already been  _ another _ full hour, so, give or take, it's been two hours. About six in total, I'd say."

  
  


Sapnap opened his eyes again in concern. It was true that George got the most difficult job out of all of them, but he was good with combat and planning, surely he wasn't in trouble?

  
  


"Do you think something's happened to him?" Sapnap's voice trembled slightly and he prayed Dream didn't notice, which, given how concentrated the older male was, he probably didn't.

  
  


"It's not that I think he's  _ actually _ in danger, it's that I'm not used to us being separated this long." Dream bit his lip in worry, but Sapnap only deadpanned, his mood completely shifted.

  
  


"Dream, we've gone  _ days _ without seeing each other." At that, Dream looked at him in annoyance.

  
  


"Yeah, doesn't mean it doesn't affect me still."

  
  


"Point taken."

  
  


They sat in silence, sometimes praying for their third half, sometimes wondering what he could be doing right now.

  
  


Dream was just about to open his mouth and suggest that they head in George's general direction, in case they could maybe run into him, when he heard something akin to that of a shout.

  
  


"Sapnap!" He whispered, immediately catching the man's attention, "Did you hear that?"

  
  


Sapnap listened intently, before giving up, "No?"

  
  


Dream pushed his hand against Sapnap's mouth, earning a surprised shout, but he forced the dark brunet to continue listening.

  
  


There it was again. A faint, yet  _ very _ much human shout.

  
  


The two stared at each other in shock, before quickly springing up to their feet. Dream panicked, it wasn't a voice he could recognize, seeing as the shout wasn't anything close to being an actual word or sentence. It was distant, and Dream could only hope to  _ god _ that it wasn't the villagers.

  
  


He stared right ahead, eyes burning the top of the mountain in front of them that George had to climb in order to pass to the other side. He clenched his fist tightly and vaguely heard Sapnap picking up an axe.

  
  


He didn't want to choose violence just yet, but Dream supposed it was better to be prepared for a fight rather than not and be attacked.

  
  


However, all of the duo's fear and panic flooded out instantly once they saw the comforting face of their eldest poke out of the hill.

  
  


_ "Guys!" _ George screamed with laughter and joy, frantically waving his hand around.

  
  


His goggles were perched on top of his nose, hiding the vibrancy of his eyes. The oldest's hair was all over the place, covered in dust and coal. The clothes looked less than ideal, the usual shades of blue dirtied so much, Sapnap and Dream could mistake it as black. George's skin was an ashy gray, and when he finally lifted up his glasses, the duo almost died laughing at the obvious clean circles around his eyes that the goggles protected.

  
  


_ "George!"  _ Dream heard Sapnap yell behind him and barely had any time to think before a thud was heard from Sapnap dropping his axe and bolting towards the mountain. George giggled in delight and fully jumped up on the hill, only to start running down the slope, hoping to meet Sapnap halfway.

  
  


Dream watched in amusement as George jumped the last couple of meters, flying for a few seconds before crashing down onto Sapnap, given by how much momentum he gathered. Sapnap was faintly heard cussing George out before he wrapped himself around the older male, trapping him in a bear hug. The two laughed and George kept yelling for the youngest to let him go.

  
  


"Dream! Help me! Gorg is trying to get away!" Sapnap yells were muffled, given how he had buried his head into the crook of George's neck, but Dream heard him loud and clear and sprinted to his friends.

  
  


"Dream?!- No, don't you fucking dare- Dream, I swear if you crash on top of me and squish me I will- Dream?!  _ DREA- _ " However, George's screaming and empty threats meant nothing to the tallest boy.

  
  


All of George's air got stolen from his lungs, crushed between the weight on top of him. He let out a large puff of air before collapsing in surrender, wrapped tightly between two bodies.

  
  


"You guys are gonna be the death of me someday." George barely got out, slightly uncomfortable by the way his insides were flattened, but not so much that it'd actually hurt.

  
  


"Good. You're only allowed to die by us." Sapnap responded, tightening his grip around the smaller boy.

  
  


Dream wheezed from behind, face tickled by the oldest's smoky hair. 

  
  


George let out a laugh of his own and found that no matter how hard he'd try to move, the two wouldn't let them go.

  
  


"Don't tell me you two missed me  _ this _ much." It was worded more as a fact, rather than a question, and the nodding coming from the younger males made George want to both flush with happiness and kick them in the shins at the same time.

  
  


George felt himself smile wide and his body gave in. 

  
  


The sun was just above the sea level. It was the golden hour, a long ways ahead before mobs would start arising from eternal death. They had weapons and each other in case anything went horribly wrong.

  
  


It was okay, they had plenty of time.

  
  


Which is why Dream quickly pressed himself down on the two bodies below him and wheeze laughed full-bodiedly when George started to complain and Sapnap screamed that he was going to pass out.

  
  


It was okay.

  
  


And the three of them knew that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lets pretend that im posting this at the end of november and not the very first day of december, yeah? Yeahh
> 
> The way yall will never understand how i speedran writing this book during online school-
> 
> a bit of stuff came up that slowed down the creative process and put a massive writer's block on me so this is why im a bit late!! I tried rushing it but didnt want to give yall anything shitty so i just took that extra day to perfect it, hope you enjoy!
> 
> Ps. Lightwhathouse, if ur reading this, thank you :')


	5. foreboding pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time stood still despite the blinding sun visibly sinking. George saw birds emerge from the shadows and fly through the air chirping, singing a melody he couldn't comprehend. They swayed in multiple formations and flew to where their hearts desired, more free than George could ever be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!PLEASE READ ME!!
> 
> first of all, im terribly sorry im behind on schedule, i wont go into details, but lets just say i mainly had writers block and was simply catching up on dsmp
> 
> SECOND OF ALL!! If youre sensitive to blood or gore or just things involving a character getting seriously injured, i advise you stop reading this chapter right when sapnaps pov starts.
> 
> PLEASE, im not used to giving warnings for chapters because this isnt something that i have writen before so i dont have experience, let alone i dont even know if this could properly be considered gore, since imo i feel like this is pretty tame, but im not taking any chances, so if this is something that can trigger you, then PLEASE, i repeat, STOP READING AFTER GEORGES POV ENDS!!! i really dont want anyone getting hurt :[[
> 
> (ill have a summary of what happened below in the end notes, so you wont be unaware of what happened!!)
> 
> thank you!!

"This is how much shit you two found?" George asked in disbelief, staring at the bags of iron from Dream and the immense amount of gold objects from Sapnap.

  
"Yep, all us, baby!" Sapnap shouted proudly, winking at George and pointing a thumb at himself, back straight and posture tight.

  
George raised an eyebrow in a smug expression, smirking at the youngest.

  
That may have been true, George thought, however that doesn't excuse the fact that Sapnap still made Dream carry him, when the campsite was only a couple meters away.

  
Upon voicing that out, Sapnap became sour and turned away pouting, making the two elders laugh.

  
They currently stood next to all of the loot on the beige sand, a few minutes later after Dream _finally_ decided to get off of George, who instantly broke free from Sapnap's hold. The poor boy had taken the most damage from the crushing, making George and Dream take him by both hands and push him up to a stand.

  
The sun had reached the horizon now, its bottom half submerged by the navy ocean waters, pulling at the giant ball of heat, drowning the sun bit by bit.

  
The sky changed to red and pink, the opaque gradient shielding pearly stars. It had been a while since they last saw colors like this paint themselves above. The clouds were puffy, scattered across the sky, a patchy blanket colored in as purple and blue. The surrounding area was a deep shade of orange and scarlet, gentle wind blowing through their different textured hair.

  
George wondered how it all looked to Dream and Sapnap, since the two were more immersed into the heavens above than George. For him, the sky looked dull, it was undeniably pretty to look at, but upon sensing the utter adoration his younger friends had, he couldn't help but think that maybe he was missing out on something magical.

  
The small smile he had on his face was gone, and the brunett was glad the duo didn't seem to notice it. He didn't want to ruin their respective moment just because he couldn't see what they could.

  
Time stood still despite the blinding sun visibly sinking. George saw birds emerge from the shadows and fly through the air chirping, singing a melody he couldn't comprehend. They swayed in multiple formations and flew to where their hearts desired, more free than George could ever be.

  
He couldn't decipher what color the birds truly were given how sharp the saturation of the sun hit them from behind. Were they white? Or were they the color of charcoal?

  
George liked to think that maybe they represented something, maybe their particular species meant something and this was a sign George missed.

  
Did they understand George and his foreboding sense of destruction, or were they just here to taunt him and his lack of awe?

  
They flew away before George had an answer to either one of those questions, going away just as fast as they came, flapping their little wings through the air, before catching speed and gliding towards the ocean, a flight to behold.

  
Time resumed and George could hear the nature around him move again, unaware that he couldn't hear it before.

  
Finally bringing himself out of his small, minute sadness, George told his best friends to wait for a little bit, saying he had to wash his face and arms, that the ashes on his skin were most likely unhealthy to breathe in and carry around. He calmly walked towards the ocean and lowered himself down gently in front of the waves, only then realizing how his hands shook.

  
George was well aware that there were a few water sources down in the caves below, but he just couldn't wait a second more to finally wash off. He plunged his calloused hands into the water and brought them back up in a little handful, staring at his tired reflection.

  
The feeling of cold and fresh liquid on his face made him hunch his back in relief. He felt awake, which was something George realized happened a lot in last twenty four hours.

  
When he brought his palms back down, George watched intensely at the transparent black swirls dancing around on his fingers. He frowned at the color and repeated the process a few more times, finally satisfied when the water came out clean once he looked at his hands.

  
The aqua shirt was still covered in soot and ash, and now in droplets of water from the incessant face scrubbing, but George wasn't about to go wash it, well aware that even if he did, the stains wouldn't come out as easily as one would expect.

  
"You okay?"

  
George jumped and released an embarrassing shout of terror, flinching in annoyance when the intonation of concern behind him turned into nothing more than dying wheezes.

  
"I'm sorry, man," The sentence cut off with another laugh, "I'm sorry, you good?"

  
Dream asked as he wiped the tears building up in his eyes, crouching down next to the smaller male slowly, as if he would scare him away.

  
"I'm surprised you haven't sucker punched him in the jaw yet with what scream you just let out." George heard Sapnap comment behind them, resting against a curved Oak tree, half of him covered in shade, half in tangerine sunlight.

  
It looked comical, but somewhat peaceful in a way the brunett couldn't explain.

  
"I guess I have more self-restraint than I thought." George answered in a muse, glaring daggers at Dream, who was still trying to breathe. His warm palm met the shoulder of George's, and suddenly both of their emotions evaporated. George calmed down from anger and Dream relaxed from laughing, the atmosphere around them letting loose.

  
"You didn't answer me." The green hoodied man reminded, which made George think for a moment of everything that happened in less than a day, of every single moment up until now.

  
"I'm fine." He opted.

  
It wasn't 'good', like Dream had expected George to reply, but it also wasn't 'content' or just a simple 'no'.

  
Truth be told, he didn't know _how_ he felt. He knew that something was itching at the back of his mind ever since he left the cave to go back, but George wasn't willing to take the warning and listen.

  
He was never the type to follow what his gut told him. George only ever acknowledged books, not his own feelings, as stupid or as genius as that may be. Dream was the one who did that, not him.

  
They knew each other well enough for Dream and Sapnap to understand not to push it. The last thing they wanted was to get in a fight.

  
Fights rarely happened between them. They only ever bickered or softly responded with a 'you're such an idiot', but never _fought._

  
Maybe they did, once or twice. George winced slightly after a slidehow of memories of their first major collision flashed through his mind within a second. Truth be told, George doesn't remember _why_ the three started fighting, he just remembers that it was scary and deadly and _painful._

  
They didn't fight much after that, aware that all of them could turn into monsters if they oh so wanted to.

  
"Alright, enough of whatever the fuck this peaceful atmosphere that settled on us is, if we wanna live, sorry not sorry, we're gonna have to move. Preferably, right now." Sapnap cut in suddenly, making both George and Dream turn towards him.

  
George snapped out of whatever memories were plaguing his mind and focused his attention to the hand outstretched towards him. Dream had already gotten up and waited for George to take his palm, which George did.

  
"Right, so, George, where is the cave?" Sapnap curiously questioned from his position next to the tree. He drew himself away and slowly inched towards the resources.

  
Wordlessly, they devided the items between them. George mostly took the tools, hooking them in his belt loops where they could fit, carrying the rest, Dream grabbed the solid gold blocks, and Sapnap took the liberty of carrying the nuggets and bags of iron. The two oldests would've bullied the dark brunett to no end if they were feeling a bit meaner that day for being weak, but honestly, all of them were as exhausted as they could get.

  
With a motion of his left arm, George took off towards the hill, "It's just over this way. Took me an hour to find the damn thing, but the walk back was only about twenty minutes, so neither of you should die." He explained as the shortest male eyed Sapnap with a mocking look.

  
Just because Dream and George chose not to torment their friend, didn't mean they couldn't very well still tease him.

  
Upon sensing the attack mainly targeted towards him, Sapnap tossed his head to the side and rolled his eyes with a groan, "Ugh, would you just leave me alone? I know the both of you had difficult jobs, but like, so did _I_. Not fair."

  
Dream laughed at his jabbing response and George followed as well, opening his eyes as much as he could given his wide grin, and signaled to the youngest that it was all just jokes in the end.

  
The smile Sapnap gave him back showed he knew.

  
The climb had been a disaster, the young men barely having any energy left after the whole day. Dream complained in a whiny voice at the fact that this all could've been avoided if they had just taken a roundabout, however, they had already traversed such a long way up, that going down just to go around would practically be worthless. When Sapnap started to moan about it as well, George had just about had enough and twacked the two of them with the blunt end of the golden axe, rendering the pair into quiet submission.

  
"Will the two of you just _shut the fuck up?_ We're almost there, you stupid fuckwits." The oldest had said sternly. He got out another blow to the gut before he could manage to hold his tongue, "Consider yourselves lucky you're not the ones having to climb this stupid thing the hundredth time."

  
At that, Dream wanted to open his mouth and most definitely irritate George more by saying that it was only his second time, but closed it when he realized that arguing would do jack shit. Maybe George _did_ have to climb this mountain more than once. After all, they had been split up, who knows how much George had to wonder before he found a cave.

  
The three fell into a silence that couldn't be described.

  
Some may have classified it as borderline awkward, however, the trio were too out of it to even begin to care.

  
After reaching the top of the mountain, Sapnap cried in relief, quickly throwing all of the stuff he was carrying down the hill and watching it roll down, before falling flat on his side and tumbling down too, clutching the strands of wheat close to his chest.

  
The sudden action made the two elders freeze and almost panic with how fast Sapnap did everything.

  
The laughter cascaded only deeper and deeper, and Dream and George looked at each other, before exploding into amused giggles, gazing down at the laying body of their friend, covered in grass and mud and filth.

  
George could barely register what was happening, before he saw a glint of yellow metal hit the ground and barrel towards Sapnap who shrieked, and Dream's chaotic laughter as he followed the rolling blocks.

  
His eyes tracked the blond male as he crashed into both Sapnap and the gold, the latter complaining loudly about how the metal hit him right in the ribs, while Dream only wheezed and shouted that it was nothing and he was acting like a baby.

  
The fond scoff on George's face lasted for only a few seconds, before he heard the two below screaming at him to follow and roll down just like they did.

  
"I'm pretty sure I've had enough filth on me for today, thank you." The oldest yelled back, causing the two to frown.

  
"Please George!"

  
"Pretty please, Gogy! Don't be a party pooper!"

  
"I don't want to!"

  
_"Gog!"_

  
_"George!"_

  
George rolled his eyes into what he was positive was the back of his skull, before pulling the gear off from various places of his body, dropping the remaining tools that had sat in his sore arms to bowl down to his best friends, watching as the two pairs of eyes down the hill suddenly lit up with joy, despite the tumbling array of implements heading their way at high speeds.

  
He was never going to win this fight anyway.

  
Plus, rolling down _was_ easier than walking.

  
In the blink of a moment, all he felt was the grass and gravel against every single part of his body, and then the warm chest of Dream, clothed in a soft green hoodie, right as he crashed into him.

  
George felt the way the breathing wall in front of him heaved with how the air got stolen from his lungs and he couldn't help but chuckle in amusement.

  
"Jesus, you knocked the wind out of me!" The taller boy said, dropping his chin on top of George's head, who's laughter increased.

  
"I'm pretty sure I've suffered this barreling attack the _most. Again."_ George heard the muffled voice of Sapnap sound out between them, in pain in a way it could only sound like if he'd been crushed under heavy weight.

  
And, well, having a tall body crash into you, followed by _another_ one, and then the combined force of two, then yeah, maybe Sapnap _did_ face the most suffocation.

  
When Dream only coughed from laughing so hard, George thought that perhaps laying here on the cold grass wasn't half as bad.

  
Maybe it was in their minds, but maybe they laid at the botton of the hill more than they should have allowed themselves to.

  
Frankly, neither of them wanted to get up, which is something that George exactly both dreaded and wanted the most, despite not getting up himself.

  
The feeling that he couldn't place as anything good still lingered in his veins and maybe laying here until sunrise would be better.

  
But maybe he was just tired, maybe his brain was convincing him that grass was more comfortable than stone could ever be. Maybe the pain in his eyes was from lack of breaks throughout the day, and not from something else.

  
Or maybe the feeling was nothing at all. Existing the way a nightmare would; scary, but truthfully not real.

  
A figment of his very imagination.

  
"We _really_ should get up before the mobs come for us." Came Dream's rational reasoning, fighting with a combined three objectifying opinions that disagreed, one of them being his own.

  
"I don't know about you, but I'm pretty content with dying right about now if it meant laying here for the rest of my life." Sapnap argued, tensing his arms against Dream's stomach, intentions clear that he wasn't in the mood at all to stand up.

  
"Sapnap, as much as I agree with you, we _have_ to move. We just have to." George countered, him too pressing farther into Dream's fluffy hoodie, before reluctantly detaching himself away, the taller's arms following him, then finally groaning in dissatisfaction when he felt nothing but air against his fingers.

  
"C'mon you two softies, get up. I promise the cave is near, we're practically already there." George spoke with a reassuring tone, reaching out both of his arms despite the pain coarsing throught his muscles being too harsh to bear.

  
After a little more convincing and egging, George finally had both of his forearms gripped in a tight hold by two different palms.

  
Picking up their belongings anew, they set off a bit to the right, George mostly taking the lead and venturing forward with no fear.

  
At least that's what he hoped to come across as. Fearless and totally not freaking out with every heavy step.

  
True to his word, the gang made it to the vertical entrance in less than ten minutes.

  
"It's a complete drop!" Dream screamed in disbelief, throwing himself on the ground next to the cave and looking down. Remnants of George's torches stood stuck into the ground, proud and tall, and George couldn't help but grin.

  
" _Yeah?_ Who told you I was making shit up?"

  
The cave was just as mysterious and menacing as he first found it. The torches at the bottom of the cavern almost made it look horrific, a pit of a thousand flames dancing underneath, shielding lava and water and minerals from the sun and moon.

  
The smell of salt and soot was prominent even from here and almost made George cover his nose from the pungent smell of it all.

  
He _really_ did not want to go down there again.

  
At his jab, Sapnap exploded in mocking laughter, before going in first, just like he always did.

  
"Sapnap, wait-" Came Dream's quick sentence, before he saw Sapnap crash down completely head on to the less than soft ground. The rumbling of the cave's walls sounded way too frightening to be calm, the dust in the air that lingered almost covered Sapnap's entire body. The weak thumbs up was the only indication he gave to show he was okay.

  
The middle man huffed in annoyance, slightly cussing the youngest and his antics out, then side eyed George, who was busy with unclasping the flint and steels from his belt loops, careful not to accidentally spark a flame and set himself on fire.

  
"How did you get down?"

  
As if knowing the question was coming, George didn't miss a beat when replying,

  
"I just used the sides as leverage and slid down, nothing fancy, sadly."

  
Dream groaned, "You have to be kidding me."

  
"Nope, get to it, big guy."

  
And after another growl of irritation from Dream came and went, the tallest boy clutched the blocks and tools George handed him, before leaning his back against wet stone and cold dirt, and flew downwards, screaming at Sapnap to catch him if he crashed.

  
George lightly smiled at his bickering friends down below when the male was finally sure they were both safe and well, even if they were yelling at each other incomprehensible things for what seemed like the millionth time today.

  
A certain itch lingered on the backside of his eyes, and his mouth curled into a tired frown.

  
He did not want to voice out his concerns, but something told him he couldn't wait any longer. Something was going to happen, and George would spill open like a door being thrown open from the overflow of water, drowing everything inside the room. George couldn't place the wrong.

  
He felt it, _crawling_ like a spider in a web, like a forgotten word right at the tip of his tongue, tangled between woven thoughts and sentences that just didn't make sense.

  
It was _there,_ but George couldn't place _where._

  
More than once had he wanted to just spit it out and tell the two to maybe spend the night somewhere else, or just stay awake altogether. But they've come so _far,_ did so _much,_ they deserved the rest.

  
So, he shook the feeling off, wrote it off as the consequences of fatigue eating him away once again, ignoring the way his pulse quickened as he neared the edge, his toes above the drop, trusting his heels not to lose balance. His hands felt clamy, and his airways felt constricted despite nothing blocking them.

  
A subtle glance to the now completely covered sun with ocean and hazelnut nut eyes, and George jumped in after his best friends, praying to a god he didn't believe existed.

  
Sapnap howled as they traversed through slopes and weird stalactites, shaped and curved in ways they shouldn't be. The sharp pang in his spine when he had to lean down or stretch up was, dare he say it, almost identical to that of a non countable amount of needles prodding themselves into his ligaments.

  
Note to self, _stop diving in head first into everything you see._

  
Sapnap knew in the end that he wasn't going to follow his own advice, but it was better to pretend that at least he scolded himself so it wouldn't lay on his conscious.

  
George had led them through caves and ravines that felt out of place and odd, told them to squeeze this and that way in order to get through, and Sapnap doesn't think he's ever felt more suffocated than he did here.

  
They wandered aimlessly, or at least that's how it seemed to Sapnap and Dream, George obviously knew where he was going.

  
The oldest boy appeared almost robotic with the way he moved, uncaring and yet cautious with the way he took sharp turns and risky jumps, checking around every corner for something Sapnap couldn't know and always telling them to walk a bit further back in case anything happened.

  
His expression always remained neutral or furrowed, eyes darker than Sapnap remembers them being.

  
Finally, the boys had reached the cave in which George dug out, both Sapnap and Dream immediately drawn to the lava pool and its heat, the warmth crawling under their clothes to the point of discomfort, the feeling of fever wrapping itself around their throats, almost cutting off air. Their mouths went dry, the boys' eyes hurt, lacking wetness.

  
The second thing they caught a glance of was the iron scattered amongst the cobblestone, some melted and some far away from the pit to still be intact in parts of stone. The multiple pieces of armour laid carefully in the very back of the opening was impressive from skill and concerning from health.

  
"Make yourselves at home, I guess." George joked, visibly irritated by being here, but Sapnap chose not to push it, he couldn't begin to imagine what was going inside the older's head, and didn't want to start a forestfire by saying something he wouldn't mean.

  
Sapnap doesn't remember the last time he felt this exhausted, even looking at his tired friends the fatigue and weariness would increase tenfold. They moved slow, slightly uncoordinated and very much at the last of their strength, but with a combined force of three, they carefully mined out around the lava pit, wanting to make enough space in order to feel warm, and not to the point of waking up thinking they were burning alive.

  
However, no matter how much he tried to write it off, their eccentric behavior was putting Sapnap on edge.

  
In no one world did Sapnap ever recall all of them going this long without a terrible joke or a comment of complaint. A shiver slid down from his back to his heels, and Sapnap wanted to cry in concern.

  
Before he could muster up the courage however, he saw the way George collapsed in the far corner of the cave, the man's knees buckling beneath him and falling forward without a care in the world, like a sack of something light and heavy.

  
Dream's shout was the action that made Sapnap move, the two running towards their eldest in panic.

  
"You okay?" Dream asked in a tight voice, as if talking in a certain way would cause George pain.

  
George's expression twisted. A frown pulled at his lips and his eyes narrowed, his nose scrunching in a snarl. The grip on the worn golden pickaxe slackened, and a deep sigh pushed past his mouth despite retaliation.

  
The man looked _tired,_ tired in a way Sapnap could only describe as keeping a secret for far too long and mentally breaking down because of it.

  
"Something's not right here." He finally got out, confusing Sapnap.

  
What was wrong?

  
Flashes emerged in Sapnap's mind. The way George's smile didn't seem to reach his eyes when they finally got away from shore, leaving their mushroom boat alone for nature to take care of. The way his eyes looked glazed over, his mindset in some other dimension. The way he took just those few seconds longer to reply and the way he moved in the caverns.

  
Sapnap thought his brain was playing tricks, but that's all he thought they were.

  
Tricks.

  
"George, I need you to elaborate. What's wrong?" Dream demanded softly, staring at the brunett in a grim matter, yet his touch on the small of George's back forgiving and comforting.

  
The sour expression on the archer's face wobbled, his body shaking slightly as if being tickled.

  
"I-" A deep breath George took made Sapnap's mind race.

  
Damn it, damn it all. Sapnap _knew_ something wasn't okay when they were walking back, it _wasn't_ mental tricks. He wrote it off as exhaustion, something he's done a lot today, but Sapnap knew it couldn't be it.

  
His gut told him Dream felt the same, but the boys didn't want to provoke George. Lest they did, a fight could break out, and the male would shut down the second he opened up.

  
Another part of his body asked him why he thought this particular action would happen, but Sapnap couldn't come up with an answer.

  
Maybe they should've talked to him prior to this, acted upon their instincts, maybe then George wouldn't have broken down, but the future is deadly and uncertain. There was no one way to have known for sure.

  
What's done is done, and what happened- happened, and that was that.

  
"I _know,_ that-" The brunett's voice cut off, a breath trembling behind closed teeth, "That this might sound _weird,_ or _crazy_ or _something,_ but I _can't_ help but think that this place is cursed, or some shit."

  
Dream looked puzzled, frazzled at the corners of his eyes, but the gears in his head were turning, Sapnap could hear the metal clanking against metal from here.

  
"George, what do you mean?" Sapnap asked, a bit on the edge in case George would yell at him for not understanding, but the latter didn't. Whether it was because he looked as if all of his strengh got stolen, or if it was because he simply didn't care anymore, George opted to just explain, the hold on the handle of gold tightening and faltering with each shudder that racked through him.

  
"W-Well, for one, when I came down here, there were no creatures, _at all."_ George's eyes glazed over, looking at something Sapnap couldn't see, almost reliving the memories of first coming across this expansion of hollowness, and hating every moment of it.

  
"Which is _odd,_ because there's _always_ mobs when we explore. There was no light source either, darkness was around every single corner I checked. And yet, there were n-none."

  
Before either the blond nor the dark brunett could voice their thoughts, he continued,

  
"And now, when we were coming back, I just couldn't help but have this feeling claw itself into my brain that _something_ is gonna go wrong. It's unavoidable, it's something I can't comprehend or predict and it's _scary._ I'm _terrified."_

  
The hiccups that erupted as if a volcano let loose echoed throughout the ravine, scared the same way that a dolphin on land would feel.

  
George looked small and frightened, and he was telling them that something inevitable was going to happen.

  
"George, George, George, _George-_ calm down, it's okay, it's okay, we're fine, as long as we're together we're _fine,_ please, just listen to me-" The concern in Dream's skyrocketed and both Sapnap and George could notice it.

  
Dream took both of the older male's hands into his own in a lenient manner that would only ever be achieved by Dream, and the blond began to whisper soft reassurances, no matter how fake or how real some of them were.

  
Sapnap watched in concern as George tried to level out his previous unstable breathing.

  
The cave was quiet. Occasionally, lava would pop and bits of magma would land next to them too closely for comfort, but it was silent. George had calmed down for the most part, and somewhere during the process, Sapnap had sat next to the pair, taking one of George's hands. 

  
The hold George had on them had felt like a death grip, as if if he'd let go, the two bodies either side of him would perish into the unknown.

  
Sapnap wanted George to elaborate so badly, so much did he want to ask billions and billions of questions, however he bit his tongue, had sat tight lipped and comforted George as best as he could.

  
George would tell them once he calmed down, and Sapnap would patiently wait until then.

  
For all Sapnap knew, the silence went on for hours, however the exhaustion he felt prior was gone.

  
As he was stuck staring at the way George's hair curled, he almost missed it when Dream took the brave step and spoke first.

  
"Is there anything you think we could do to make you feel better? Or for the feeling to pass?" The blond asked carefully, aware of the way the grip on his hand tightened before going slack again.

  
"Can we just stay like this?" George replied with a question of his own, eyes barely constricting tears, "Please?"

  
Dream smiled sweetly, bringing his other palm up to place against their interconnected hands.

  
Sapnap watched with a content look in his eyes, copying what Dream did and almost breathing a sigh in relief when George looked to calm down by a lot after the action.

  
As he closed his eyes and rested his forehead on George's shoulder, he let his mind wander, exploring ideas and theories.

  
What did George feel? What otherworldly force was telling him secrets he couldn't understand? Why did he twitch in fear whenever either him or Dream moved the tiniest bit?

  
Sapnap tried to put himself in George's shoes, tried to make his mind think the way George's would, but ultimately, he came up with more questions than answers.

  
Once again Dream voiced out his concerns.

  
"George, I want to get my hoodie off, I'm basically melting alive, could you let go of my hand for a few seconds? I'll be quick, I promise."

  
Despite frowning, George nodded, although reluctantly, and Sapnap could see just how badly George's hand shook when it was freed from Dream's hold.

  
Sapnap immediately took the initiative and grabbed George's palm in his other hand, gripping as tight as he had been holding the other one.

  
At this, George silently thanked him, and after looking away he fixated his gaze on Dream. He didn't want to take any risk losing sense of either of the boys, so Sapnap made extra care to keep quiet just so that George could hear the taller man as well.

  
Dream was fast with the way he moved, quickly clasping and unclasping certain buckles on his chest and shoulders, pulling leather strings and loops through holes in experienced manner, having done this a thousand times before.

  
When the final main belt contraption was removed and thrown to the side, disaster struck.

  
An all too familiar hiss rung in and out the trio's ears, a green shadow behind Dream's body that wasn't there previously.

  
Sapnap and George stared at Dream's shocked face, no doubt matching his expression, before a while glow more blinding than the sun blasted throughout the cave and shook the underground senseless.

  
Sapnap fet himself lose consciousness for a spit second, shielding as much of George and himself as he could on pure instinct, wincing as rubble and bits on iron attacked his skin.

  
When the room seemed to darken, Sapnap took the liberty of immediately peeking out of the covers of his forearms, afraid of what he'd see.

  
Blood.

  
Blood was everywhere.

  
They hadn't made shields yet.

  
They'd been too caught up in the moment.

  
Dream.

  
_Oh **god,** Dream._

  
Sapnap felt something bubble up inside his shock riden body, completely and utterly frozen as he watched the way smoke rose from the ground upwards, the rachet smell of gunpowder filling his nostrils, making his head spin, the powder too close to lava, _too close to lava_.

  
If any of it fell in, the whole cave would collapse with a single spark.

  
Sapnap stared with horrified eyes at the crimson substance coating the walls of the cave, splattered in thick heaps, cascading downwards through cracks of the stone, leaving trails and trails of red behind.

  
Dream's body laid still at the back of the opening, limbs bent in ways that shouldn't have been comfortable, his green hoodie soaked with blood and more blood, now a color of dark brown that made Sapnap sick. The mask was shattered into pieces, scattered over the surrounding area.

  
Beneath him was a pool of blood, a pool gradually getting bigger and bigger and Sapnap thought he was going to throw up with how shiny and deep in saturation it appeared.

  
The smell of iron filled the air, and not the mineral. Sapnap's head spun, he felt weak, _where,_ god dammit, _WHERE_ was his voice?!

  
Time seemed to freeze, and yet Sapnap was fighting an inner battle, screaming and shouting at himself to fucking _move, move and get to Dream_.

  
But he couldn't.

  
He didn't feel as though Sapnap was in his own body, too out of it and too stricken with unrecognizable emotions that wavered on anger, fear and madness.

  
His eyes were wide and his cheeks felt wet, his hands were shaking in George's and his stomach was turning in ways that weren't enjoyable.

  
It was only until he felt the ground beneath him rumble in the form of a body hastily getting up from his left side, and he gazed with a broken set of eyes as George sprinted across the opening before falling next to Dream and _screaming_.

  
The shout of pure horror is what got him to finally break free from his imaginary confines and run towards the pair, trying desperately not to look at the walls.

  
He collapsed on his knees and stared at George who's eyes watered and cried, waterfalls falling down his face and his neck, his lips letting sounds of pure agony slip past, raw pain coating syllables that Sapnap couldn't understand.

  
Sapnap glanced down and almost puked. His knees felt warm, covered in a liquid that shouldn't be outside one's body, soaking up into Sapnap's fabric in a way the dark brunett didn't want it to, as if clawing up to find a new home.

  
George's hands were covered in blood, a lot of blood, from where he'd shaken the male. The strings of red dripped down his forearms as George looked onwards in an expression Sapnap hadn't ever seen on his face.

  
He looked just past the brink of reality, his eyes dull, yet very much alive with the way they sobbed.

  
Sapnap felt hot water pool at the sides of his eyes uncontrollably, rolling down in waves from a drought, before he finally rolled Dream onto his back and screamed in a broken voice.

  
All of his body, _all of it_ , looked distorted and dismantled. His blond hair was dyed and clumped to thick strands in blood, his neck smeared from the pool beneath him. The man's hands were bruised and burned as he fell towards the ground, shielding himself last minute from the explosion that was too strong. His hoodie was stiff, ripped apart to the point of showing skin and absolutely bathed to the brim with blood, patches of green near the top of his hood the only color recognizable. His legs were twisted and the black jeans were covered in an unhealthy amount of gunpowder.

  
But his face, _god,_ his face.

  
Sapnap swore one more look at he'd pass out.

  
Half of Dream's entire face was burned, the skin patchy and bleeding and _open._ His eyes stayed closed, his mouth agape as blood spilled out the corners, the nose in a similar state. The scratches of the stone as he hit the wall and fell down were prominent, some grazing his eyelids, some scattered along his ears. Some cuts were deep enough to spill out more blood, as if the explosion hadn't done enough damage.

  
He looked broken, gashes and wounds from every side of him, and Sapnap couldn't keep up.

  
" _FUCK! FUCK, SAPNAP! SAPNAP, HE'S BARELY BREATHING!_ "

  
George's shattering cries rang throughout the cave systems, panging inside of Sapnap's skull as he barely grasped consciousness. His voice sounded distorted and raspy, probably from screaming it raw in ways Sapnap couldn't hear from how his head blocked everything but the knowledge that Dream was _covered in blood_.

  
He wanted to respond, so badly did he want to tell George that-

  
That _what?_

  
He was going to pass out too?

  
Sapnap couldn't act selfish now, not when his fucking friend was on the verge of kissing death and leaving them to marry her forever.

  
He yelled and banged on invisible walls inside in head, hating himself for letting this happen.

  
How come they hadn't heard that creeper? 

  
How come did it manage to slip past their walls and enter with no sound?

  
He shut his eyes as more tears threatened to spill over like a tsunami, his ears burning with the intensity of the blow of the same power. Ringing and bouncing around like the plague, reminding Sapnap of what he failed to protect.

  
"SAPNAP, WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING!" George's voice felt so different now.

  
It was deeper, raspier and broken, cracking at the corners of each word.

  
His friend looked in a frenzy, his eyes bloodshot and terrified, snot covering his uppet lip as tears ceased to stop. The blood adorned him like second skin, only his torso and head left unscathed.

  
Sapnap guessed he didn't look any different, if the red swallowing his knees and arms looked any more confirming.

  
Finally, after staring at George's wavering facials features, he found his voice, no matter how contorted it sounded to him,

  
"I-I think I h-h-have a solution-" His words came out in a different light, the voice he currently owned was unlike his usual one, this one covered in fear and exhaustion and regret, the sadness lacing in between chokes.

  
"What is it, what is it, Sapnap, tell me, tell me _please,_ we don't have time, _we don't have-_ " George cut himself off, eyes burning from crying so much, choking at the falter of his sentence, sobbing out the rest of his pleas in nothing else but pain.

  
Sapnap gazed as George moved quickly, hands quivering so much Sapnap would think he's possessed in any other circumstance. He ripped off Dream's crusty hoodie, along with the black, sleeveless turtle neck underneath, almost gagging at the sight of the major wound covering half of his stomach.

  
A burn mark streching all over his torso from neck to belly on his right side, then a puncture right in between his umbilical and right lumbar region causing the mass of the blood to pour out, most definitely from the pointly rock above them sticking out from the wall, Sapnap couldn't look up, knowing he wouldn't be able to take in the sight of a blood submerged rock.

  
George bunched up a piece of Dream's hoodie, having ripped it to shreds for easier access, it was basically a rag now either way, before plunging it into a nearby bucket of water that thankfully didn't get knocked over during the blast, then, almost harshly due to nerves and fear, despite clearly not wanting to, pressed it up against the source of the most blood.

  
"I saw a witch hut near one of the p-portals today, maybe it'd be possible to get a potion of healing or r-regen..." He choked, "Or maybe the village D-Dream found-"

  
He hated his voice, he hated how scared he was, how George was at least _trying_ to keep Dream alive, while Sapnap was just kneeling, replaying the explosion and Dream's terrified face over and over again in his head.

  
George's soft, so so soft, but _oh_ so torn vocal chords made Sapnap weep, sob his throat dry as he listened to his best friend struggle to speak.

  
After ages of trying, George only reached over with a blood dripping hand and clasped his fingers over Sapnap's squeezing in a feather light grip that made Sapnap reminiscent about how they held each other minutes before.

  
A shuddering breath made him focus back to reality and he stated at George the way George stated at him.

  
"I don't care where you h-have to go, Sapnap," He started, voice more even than Sapnap expected it to be, but hand shaking just as much as it had been trembling before, or maybe even worse, sending shock after shock throughout Sapnap's body from where their hands connected.

  
"But _please,"_ He begged in a sobbing and shaky voice, " _please come back alive and safe._ "

  
Sapnap's head was spinning, his body threatening to shut down any second if he even as so _dared_ to move, but Sapnap pushed through, nodding his head feverishly, holding George's gaze.

  
He stood up slowly, even though his brain supplied that he _wasn't moving fast enough_ , and without leaving any room for reconsideration, Sapnap pulled off his first shirt, dropping it next to Dream's unmoving body.

  
"Use it i-if you have to, no excu-excuses." The stuttering stayed prominent, but Sapnap hopefully made it clear that he valued a live human that was their third soulmate more than some lousy t-shirt.

  
Sapnap watched as George nodded sluggishly, as if the exhaustion was finally wearing him down, as if the scent of iron and gunpowder was something he couldn't handle anymore.

  
Slowly, he turned around, despising himself for wasting so much time, so he braced himself, before taking a single gold axe and praying he wouldn't have to use it.

  
His pace quickened the fruther he got away from the pair on the ground, fuelled by both his own and George's weeps, before George stopped him momentarily.

  
"Sapnap-"

  
He turned around and replied with a watery smile, hopefully big enough to reassure the two of them,

  
"Don't worry, George, I'll come back w-without a single s-scratch."

  
When George shut his lips into a thin line and nodded his head, Sapnap was off.

  
He bolted out the cave, trusting his instincts to remember where to go in order to get out into the open.

  
The sudden rush of adrenaline ran wild in his body, pumping as much blood as Dream was letting out.

  
Tears slid down his cheeks as he sobbed, clouding his vision as he ran through the ravines.

  
He felt like breaking down, his body screaming at him that it couldn't handle the pressure Sapnap was putting on it after the entire day, the pain _aching,_ but nowhere near the torture Dream felt.

  
So, Sapnap shut it off, the only thing allowing to pass through to him being the afflicted cries of George, loud enough to pierce though the ground, echoing into the starry night, the only push Sapnap could feel as he ran in the direction of the Plains, lungs burning from intensity.

  
Dream wasn't waking up.

  
_He wasn't waking up._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading!!
> 
> if it doesnt hurt, please tell me how i did! i truly want to know if this is something that borderlines on gore, or if im simply overreacting, thank you!
> 
> THE SUMMARY: after the trio enter the cave, sapnap thinks that something is off with george and how neither of them are talking, however, he tries to pay no mind to it. then george finally collapses and reveals what hes been feeling. dream and sapnap opt to help him calm down so they sit holding hands for a while, before dream asks to let him go for a little while so he can take off his hoodie and belts. after taking off the last belt, suddenly, a creeper out of nowhere emerges and explodes, sending dream barreling towards the very end of the cave, where he gets severely injured to the very point of death. george and sapnap try and help the best they can, and finally, sapnap makes the decision to venture out to find a potion or anything that could help, leaving george behind to care for dream.
> 
> happy new year, by the way!! even if i am 4 days late :]


	6. apocalyptic hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The necklace that brought out angry red marks on Dream's skin miraculously survived all of the damage.
> 
> Logically, there was absolutely 𝘯𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘺 it could have remained wrapped around Dream's throat. Either from the explosion, or from the way Dream's body crashed into the stone wall- the cracks still visible from where he got slammed into the cavern's rocks- the necklace should have come clean off.
> 
> But it didn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM NOT DEAD BITCHES!!
> 
> seriously tho, im sorry i dipped for almost two months. i was having real difficulty with this chapter for some reason. no matter what i wrote, i never liked the end result, so i had to keep writing and rewriting time and time again, before i forced myself to take a break and come back later. that, obviously, was a long time, but it worked! :DD i finally had something i was ok with, so i hope thats ok with you all too :]]
> 
> other than that, enjoy!!

How long has it been?

  
  


Was it five minutes or five centuries?

  
  


George felt lightheaded, his body shifting in and out of reality, bordering on insanity as he stared at the entrance of the cave, as if searching to look upon a moving entity, a speck of dust,  _ something _ , other than the grey wall of spikes that plagued his mind in memories.

  
  


From the way the blood on his fingers dried down to a substance that was in between sticky and cracked, he'd say maybe an hour had already passed since Sapnap sprinted out.

  
  


There was a distant look in his eyes, his brain undergoing emotions and traveling places George didn't want it to.

  
  


The brunet had stopped trembling a while ago, and whether it was because he was beyond tired at this point, or because he seemed to finally accept what had happened, he couldn't know, thoughts too fried to try and apprehend.

  
  


All George acknowledged as true was that somewhere within that plausible hour, he moved to get Dream's belts, tore up more fabric, and tried to clean up Dream's wounds as best as he could given all that he had.

  
  


In retrospect, having no medical or witchery supplies, as well knowing nothing about the human body, and being forced to care for his friend with all of that in mind, then yeah, George wasn't doing all that great mentally.

  
  


But the bleeding stopped, or at least it seemed like it did, soaking into the frayed green hoodie, which he could hardly call green anymore, and George felt a little bit better than before, a bit more sane than he originally was.

  
  


With a bit of pep talk and trying to keep his head clear so George could work, he remembers taking off the first initial pass of him hastily pushing the wet cotton into the would. Which, again, wasn't at all good, but George had a dying friend in his arms and he was  _ panicking _ .

  
  


Almost immediately after Sapnap got out, George took the former's white t-shirt, looking regrettably at the fire symbol and _ almost _ deciding not to do what he needed to, but the disappointed look on Sapnap's face if he found out George couldn't do what he had asked him of, made George push the thought aside and fiercely rip the top into shreds.

  
  


He took the clean cloth and soaked it in water, thankful that the bucket he had made previously proved to be useful. Besides, the water in the ravines turned out to not be as tainted as he had first assumed.

  
  


It probably wasn't recommended to use it on injuries, but George didn't want to think of excuses at the moment, finding that they only made him feel worse with each argument.

  
  


George had discarded the first piece of the hoodie. It was sticky and wet and absolutely drenched in an unhealthy amount of blood. He tossed it to the side as far away as he could, the metal scent deeming him delusional. The brunet debated letting it sink into the lava, but something within him couldn't bear the thought of seeing some part of Dream drowning in a pool of molten rock.

  
  


With as much care as his numb hands could provide, over the course of the hour, he wiped down the blood, trying not to look down at the would on full display under him.

  
  


Gently, aware of the pain Dream's body must feel, even though the man himself was unconscious, George pressed a fresh and damp white piece of cloth onto the cleaned up puncture, before taking Dream's wide, main belt, and wrapping it around his abdomen, securing and tightening it right over the wound.

  
  


George repeated this process a couple times, with slow, slow movements, and an even slower comprehension.

  
  


The gash on his forehead wasn't as bad as it had first looked out to be, George managed to clean it up within minutes, ceasing the blood flow down his pained face. The lesion on Dream’s shoulder blade got covered in a wet rag and secured with another, slimmer belt. A small imprint on the blond’s upper hip was treated with kindness and George made sure the drying crimson color was wiped down. The bruises that adorned Dream’s hands were cleaned with careful precision, each finger doused in water. And lastly, George patched up the forming scars on his face the best way he could, praying that with all of his efforts, he helped Dream at least a bit.

  
  


The nasty skin tissue building up from the flame that licked his right part of the body will probably remain there forever, but maybe they won't be as visible when Sapnap gets that stupid potion.

  
  


In utter enervation, George dropped his head down, staring at Dream's tortured neck.

  
  


The necklace that brought out angry red marks on Dream's skin miraculously survived all of the damage.

  
  


Logically, there was absolutely  _ no way _ it could have remained wrapped around Dream's throat. Either from the explosion, or from the way Dream's body crashed into the stone wall- the cracks still visible from where he got slammed into the cavern's rocks- the necklace should have come clean off.

  
  


But it didn't.

  
  


It stayed completely the same, save for a few scratches or dents in a couple of shells.

  
  


George enclosed a single shell around his fingers, brushing softly at the ripples and cracks in its cover, amazed and warmed. The shells on George’s wrist matched Dream’s, both respective jewelries gleaming and sparkling from water. For a brief moment, George wondered whether this was another sign he was ignoring, like he had ignored the birds or his gut feeling, waving them off completely or waiting until the very last moment to let them come out into the open.

  
  


It was stupid to believe in such thoughts, to put meaning into things that had nothing to do with others, but George couldn’t help and do it every time. The man sighed in defeat, still carefully playing with the necklace in his fingers, allowing himself to finally relax and take a break.

  
  


The brunet wondered where on earth was Sapnap, if he was even close to finding either a potion or a person who could help,  _ anything,  _ when he heard the ground above him rumble in faint timbres.

  
  


His calming pulse shot up.

  
  


Instinctively, George grabbed Dream’s body and held it close to himself. He, in no way, would be able to fight with the state he was in; physically weak and mentally still trying to tie the events that took place, but maybe he would be able to defend until Sapnap got back.

  
  


As the increasing sounds above the underground got louder and more urgent, George felt the thumping in his heart and blood quicken and anxiety increase ten fold. He snarled and cursed himself internally for not able to do anything more than sit there and feel his hands shake, breath shallow and ringing.

  
  


As he felt the walls suddenly quiver, George froze.

  
  


There was no doubt within George’s mind that whoever or  _ whatever  _ was chasing him down found the entrance to the cave and was  _ barreling  _ down towards the two men.

  
  


The labored breathing turned manic as George felt his vision waver. There was absolutely no way this was Sapnap. He knew that the man was as in pain and desperate as Greorge was, but his body wasn’t strong enough to make literal walls crumble in his wake. There were at least three  _ things  _ coming down the tunnels and caves, and George was  _ terrified. _

  
  


In a last resort, he pulled Dream into his lap as he felt tears build up anew, the quiet sobbing returning to his broken voice and wracking his body in fear. The thought of Sapnap returning to the pair and witnessing two of his best friends dead planted itself into George's mind and he released a roaring cry. 

  
  


He prayed to who knows what for a miracle to happen.

  
  


For Sapnap to come before they got mauled to death, for Dream to wake up, for himself to find the strength and save them both. But there was only so much time for thinking and doing.

  
  


As George concluded that the opposing creatures were seconds away from their dug out cave, he tried to silence his cries, hoping desperately that maybe the things would miss it, before he heard shouts that sounded too human to be animals or mobs.

  
  


However, not trusting his clouded judgement, George willed himself to hold Dream closer, burying his face into Dream’s chest and letting fate take his life into her hands, quietly whispering his friends goodbye under his shaky breath.

  
  


And then, the desperate running and stomping stopped, right where George knew was the access way to their cavern. He took a deep breath, one which the brunet was positive was his last, and blocked out the world around him, surrendering himself to death, wishing for forgiveness from both of his best friends.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Sapnap was breathless and his vision was spinning, dark splotches at the corners of his eyes  excessively concerning him, but not to the point of stopping.

  
  


He had been running for what felt like hours, not once taking a stop to sit down or catch his breath. The constantly changing scenery before and around him comforted the dark brunet, reminding him that he’s gaining ground and getting closer to the end goal.

  
  


The stars were high up in the air, lighting up the pitch black night. Sapnap wondered for a brief moment why the sky had appeared darker than usual, not enough to immediately notice, but undeniably apparent once taken a good look at. Shaking his head, Sapnap forced the revelation out of his mind and focused on his current task.

  
  


He had decided that going to the village was better. For all Sapnap knew, the supposed witch hut didn’t even have a witch that could make him the potion, or didn’t have the ingredients to make it himself. Getting a professional who knows what they’re doing is also a plus, Sapnap mused.

  
  


The boy vividly remembers Dream telling him where the village was, saying that it was almost straight ahead from where the two of them broke off and Dream ventured deeper into the Plains by himself. He also recalls Dream saying that they weren’t exactly pleased with what he had done, and that became apparent when Sapnap finally found the village, and the multiple motionless iron golems scattered around the surrounding area.

  
  


Deep inside his heart, Sapnap whooped in support and astonishment, proud of Dream for making all three giants fall, but another part was slightly scowling, annoyed at the fact that now Sapnap had to lie his way through and beg for help, wary to not disclose who Dream was and hope that some villagers weren’t too invested into fixing up their mobile defences to aid him.

  
  


Really, he didn't even know where to start.

  
  


The village looked both massive and tiny, once wealthy and now destitute. Sapnap guessed that that was the illusion of the gigantic wheat fields that were currently abandoned as all townspeople gathered around unresponsive iron statues.

  
  


This wasn't looking too good for Sapnap.

  
  


There wasn't a single person that looked to be unoccupied by the current major matter at hands that Sapnap could swoop in and get attention from.

  
  


Everyone seemed busy. Some protecting the outskirts of the town from deadly creatures, which, now that Sapnap thinks about it, surprisingly never made an appearance to him while the dark brunet was running through the grassy fields. He wondered why that was. Some, mostly blacksmiths and mechanics, tended to their wounded golems. And others were probably either at home, like parents desperately trying to coax their children into bed, and failing miserably, since the kids just couldn't help but want to see the repairing of iron beats.

  
  


Time was running out and Sapnap was making no progress.

  
  


He felt his blood run cold again, bouncing temperature to temperature, hot to cold to hot to cold. A thick layer of sweat built up on the crossbow bearer's hands, a sick and clammy feeling wrapping around the skin.

  
  


He ran around the village in quick paced steps. Desperately, Sapnap scanned his surroundings, praying to spot  _ something,  _ **_someone,_ ** before he halted in his tracks completely.

  
  


In the very back of the village, where it currently seemed absolutely devoid of life, Sapnap detected movement of some unclear shadows. Casted on pavement by the lanterns perched upon poles, Sapnap was able to make out two figures. 

  
  


One was definitely shorter, but really not by much. The dark brunet couldn't decipher if that was their actual height difference or if the shadows were spewn that way given the distance between them that they traversed.

  
  


The first shadow, the slightly tinier one, didn't seem to have any immediately noticeable factors about itself. The second one however, Sapnap was suddenly  _ very  _ interested.

  
  


It had a hat. By the way it looked unruly and half-assed, with some type of material sticking out in all sorts of directions, it could only be made out of straws and wheat. It was big, bigger than a normal farmer's, which is perhaps why it caught Sapnap's attention so quickly.

  
  


Then his jaw dropped.

  
  


A cape.

  
  


A  _ huge  _ cloak.

  
  


It fluttered behind the taller figure, graceful and pillow-y, falling into step with its owner.

  
  


The sheer power and confidence the shadow carried made Sapnap feel a shiver crawl down his spine, twisting down his legs and numbing all limbs minutely.

  
  


Before Sapnap had the full comprehension to feel fear, a reckless idea popped into his brain that made him clench his hands in desperation.

  
  


What if these two people could help him?

  
  


Sapnap held his breath as he watched them finally turn the corner, for  _ some  _ reason deciding that the thought had been the most brilliant thing he had ever come up with.

  
  


When he witnessed their faces, they turned out to be nothing alike to what Sapnap had quickly managed to make up in his mind.

  
  


For one, the age and height difference between the two, now obvious males, was far bigger than he expected. It was a tall blond man who looked to be in his thirties, with a much shorter brunet boy bordering on adulthood, both frantically looking around the place, as if copying what Sapnap had been doing for the past ten minutes he'd been here.

  
  


A buried fear deep inside his throat had depleted, a small reassurance that at least these two people didn't look as intimidating or sketchy as he first thought, that they had secrets of their own.

  
  


Usually, that'd be a red flag for the dark brunet, but he'd grown to be understanding, flexible with who he had to work with.

  
  


Silently, hiding behind a cold, stone brick wall of a two story house, Sapnap spied on the two, wanting to make sure he wasn't going to regret doing what he was itching to do.

  
  


Sapnap eyed as the duo made their way in a fast paced manner towards a couple horse stables at the back of the village's path, somehow secluded from all sight except from the area Sapnap was in.

  
  


He stared as the teenager fell behind to keep an eye out, while the older man quickly ran towards the horses in the back, and rummaged through the bag he had slung over his shoulder, stuffed to the brim with objects to the point of overflow.

  
  


It was glowing out the seams with what looked to be potions of different kinds.

  
  


Sapnap's eyes widened.

  
  


Before he could ever register what he was doing, the dark brunet was on his feet, sprinting towards the male duo.

  
  


It was only until he was right in front of the brunet boy and heard him let out a loud shriek that Sapnap broke out of whatever trance he was in.

  
  


“ _ Oh my God! _ ” He yelled, making Sapnap panic and try to calm him down before the villagers heard the commotion on the other side of town and came barreling over.

  
  


Ok, maybe running in head first  _ wasn't  _ a good idea.

  
  


“Shh! It's fine! Please,  _ please  _ calm down, I'm not gonna hurt you, I just need hel-”

  
  


“Tubbo?! What's wrong-”

  
  


The older man halted his rush when he spotted Sapnap, his eyes bulging so much Sapnap thought they'd explode out of their sockets.

  
  


Quickly, he wondered why the pair were looking at him so strangely. Not as if they'd seen a phenomena, but something even scarier.

  
  


But suddenly, the blond male grabbed the teenager's,  _ Tubbo, was it?  _ hand and hurled him backwards and behind himself, before snarling at Sapnap with an aggression the dark brunet had seen only a handful of times in his life. Although in his eyes, Sapnap could still make out the tiniest slither of fear.

  
  


“What is it that you want?” The man barked, Tubbo peering over his shoulders with a terrified look on his face.

  
  


Sapnap felt small and vulnerable, and he didn't like it.

  
  


He got the feeling of them being wary of him, the younger man truly did, but surely Sapnap didn't look  _ that  _ intimidating, right?  _ Yes _ , he was a bit out of breath,  _ yes _ , he had a crazed look in his eyes, but it's not like he had a weapon on his person.

  
  


Who was more petrified of who anymore?

  
  


Sapnap felt his throat close in on itself as he tried to get out a sentence.

  
  


“Please,  _ please _ , I don't mean any harm your way, I just need help, I-” Dammit, not now tears.

  
  


“M-My friend, he's- I'm pretty sure he's dying and I  _ need  _ someone to help me,” The ugly scowl lessened on the blond man's face, and Sapnap saw his hold weaken on the boy behind, “I came here for aid, but everyone was occupied, then… then I saw you two and that you had potions, so I thought that maybe- maybe you could help me,  _ please _ , I'll do anything at this point, I just want my friend to live, please…”

  
  


His vision was blurring and Sapnap felt his knees almost buckle beneath him.

  
  


Sapnap saw the way that snarl had now turned into a frown and the way the oldest male's mouth moved to form words, before the brunet boy behind him cut him off, "Are you ok, sir?" The teenager softly and timidly asked, a little quiver in his voice.

  
  


Now Sapnap was confused, the blur in his eyesight clearing, before he stared at the blue eyed boy and focused on where the kid was looking. Once he got confirmation that the boy was gazing down at his waist, Sapnap himself ventured down, before almost throwing up at the sight.

  
  


He was covered in Dream's blood.

  
  


How had he managed to forget?

  
  


No wonder the two were so scared of him, they probably thought he had killed someone and ran away.

  
  


Before falling down, the blond male came rushing towards him, steadying him by his bloody wrists, the crimson liquid chipping away at the contact, while some splotches hung on by the hairs on his arms.

  
  


“I-" Sapnap spoke in a frail voice, surprising both strangers with a crack in his sentence, "I just want help,  _ please, please- _ ”

  
  


He hiccuped on his own growing sob, quickly becoming embarrassed that he let himself break so easily in front of people who weren't keen enough already to help him, before one hand that previously held his wrist came underneath his jawline to lift Sapnap's gaze and gently asked, “Where is your friend?”

  
  


In all honesty, Sapnap felt like crying rivers at this moment.

  
  


“T-Thank you, thank you s-so much. He's a bit far from here, over the moun… mountain…”

  
  


The two males looked at each other, before the blond man nodded with surprising determination and let Sapnap go, going back towards the horses he was taming, most likely preparing them for a long journey.

  
  


Tubbo walked next to him with more confidence than he had before, sitting Sapnap lightly on the ground, before plopping down himself.

  
  


“What happened?” He asked gently, as if knowing Sapnap was a scared animal, terrified of all things around, “You don't have to answer if you're uncomfortable, by the way! I just thought that- y'know,” He quickly added, to which Sapnap cracked a small smile, thankful that someone, a  _ teenager  _ no less, was stronger than him.

  
  


“H-He's bleeding a lot, my other f-friend is trying his best to patch him u-up,” Sapnap wiggled his fingers, testing to see if he could still feel them, “A creeper came behind him when we weren't looking and h-he had no protection, I… I don't… I don't think he has a lot of time left…”

  
  


Tubbo listened intently, at one point grabbing Sapnap's left hand and holding it between his own, in a similar way the trio had been holding hands just a mere few hours ago. The thought made Sapnao weep harder.

  
  


He wasn't sure why he was breaking down now.

  
  


When Sapnap had reached the village, the tears had dried and stopped pouring down, and he mostly stopped thinking about Dream's situation in and of itself, just that he needed immediate help.

  
  


But now that he sat down and told Tubbo and the older man the reason, he couldn't help but remember very clearly all that had happened, couldn't help but break, an internal clock tormenting him, displaying the time Dream still had to live. It didn't show a lot of hours.

  
  


“You need the potions, right?” The slightly firmer voice, belonging to the other male, reached Sapnap's eyes and he lifted his head to find a hand in front of him, beckoning him to take it.

  
  


Sapnap did.

  
  


“Y-Yeah, thank you again,” He whispered and stared in awe at the almost glowing two horses.

  
  


The man had given them potion effects. From what Sapnap could remember, the swirling colors were of swiftness and strength.

  
  


Two saddles laid secure on their backs, the steeds waiting for them to board. One was pure white, visibly taken good care of given how soft and bright the coat looked. The other one was a mixture of browns, both light and dark.

  
  


“I want to make it clear that I don't completely trust you and have  _ no idea  _ whether or not I'm making the right decision here, but you seem harmless and I'm not known to be the one who leaves a person in desperate need behind. So  _ promise  _ me that you're legit.” The man declared, which Sapnap wholeheartedly agreed to and respected, promising to him that he was in fact telling the truth.

  
  


The blond man quickly checked around and then his bag, counting the potions with expertise before closing it with a metal snap.

  
  


“Tubbo, you get on the white horse. Will you be okay on a horse behind me…?”

  
  


Sapnap registered that the man was asking for his name.

  
  


“Sapnap. Just S-Sapnap.”

  
  


The man smiled.

  
  


“Philza. But Phil works fine. Alright then, let's get on.”

Philza, as Sapnap finally learned, got on the brown colored horse, Sapnap climbing right behind him and gripping tight onto his waist.

  
  


Tubbo was a bit up ahead, already cascading down the other side of the tiny hill the stables were perched up on, carefully making sure they wouldn't attract any attention to themselves, Philza and Sapnap silently following him.

  
  


“You said he was over that hill?” Philza asked for confirmation, finally setting off towards that direction when they were far away enough from the town to loop back. Sapnap nodded in affirmation.

  
  


It had been a blur to him.

  
  


The natural speed of the horses paired up with the potions made them extremely fast, to the point of dizziness, as Sapnap clinged on to Philza for dear life.

  
  


His heart was going out of control. He had done it. Sapnap had gotten what seemed like good allies and people who genuinely wanted to help him. The only thing he could do now was wish for Dream and George to be alright once they got there.

  
  


God, how were they?

  
  


Sapnap had maybe been gone for about an hour, not a time period he was proud of- Dream most definitely lost a lot of blood, however, it wasn't a terrible time.

  
  


They had gotten over the mountain fairly quickly. In fact, Sapnap had realized they had reached the cave in probably less than ten minutes, and he almost screamed when he told them to stop.

  
  


“What's wrong?!” Tubbo immediately yelled back in concern, stopping his horse quickly to fall back, as did Philza.

  
  


“To the right, we're here!” Sure enough, there laid the deadly cave, a faint glow emanating from it, courtesy of the torch on the bottom.

  
  


They set off again, a bit to the right this time, and before Sapnap knew it, all three of them had gotten off their rides and stared down the cavern below.

  
  


It was now Sapnap's time to take the lead.

  
  


Without wasting anymore time that needed to be wasted, he slid down the sides of the opening and motioned the duo to do the same.

  
  


Philza went down immediately, while Tubbo needed some convincing.

  
  


“Please, Tubbo, you'll be okay, we don't have time!”

  
  


It took a few tries, but soon enough, Tubbo was down there with Sapnap and Philza.

  
  


Then, they started running.

  
  


Sapnap made sure to tell them how and where to enter which cave, knowing that it was confusing for them.

  
  


He was aware they were shaking the whole underground, three pairs of feet constantly stomping on unstable ground, but Sapnap couldn't slow down.

  
  


Couldn't when he was this close to saving Dream.

  
  


When he finally neared the entrance to their cave, he took a major whiplash to the putrid smell decorating the air. It reeked of gunpowder and iron, and Sapnap almost gagged.

  
  


He heard Tubbo and Philza struggling just as much, before the man clad in shades of green exclaimed, “We need to get in immediately, this strong of a scent of blood is  _ not  _ good!”

  
  


Sapnap paled before willing the dizziness in his brain to stop, finally turning the corner and stopping completely once he saw the sight.

  
  


It was George, hugging Dream closely in his lap, with the latter covered in rags and belts, remnants of diluted blood wrapping around his body, silently sobbing as he buried his face into Dream's chest.

  
  


“George?” Sapnap asked gently, suddenly wary of everything he said and did, his eyes bulging as he took more and more of what was in front of him.

  
  


He didn't get a response.

  
  


And that made Sapnap  _ panic. _

  
  


Fuck, fuck  _ fuck,  _ **_fuck, FUCK-_ **

  
  


But before he could scream, Philza put a hand on his shoulder in a reassuring manner, making him jolt, although Sapnap could feel the shake in his wrist.

  
  


“I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure he's in shock. Seeming as you're his friend, he'd most likely want to see you the most, not us.”

  
  


Philza was right. Although Sapnap knew both him and Tubbo were more than friendly, George didn't. And with the way he was acting, seeing strangers' faces would probably be for the worse.

  
  


With that information processed, Sapnap quickly, but quietly, made his way around the lava pool, inching closer and closer towards the brunet and blond with each step.

  
  


Maybe he was hallucinating or maybe it was the memories playing tricks on him, but even after such a long time period, Sapnap could spot areas where the smoke of creeper remains lingered in the air, never really evaporating. He shuddered as the cavern suddenly felt smaller and scarier.

  
  


Breathing was difficult.

  
  


Finally, Sapnap lowered himself to his knees, trying again with whatever patience he had left, “Gogy?”

  
  


Some part of his mind prayed that maybe the nickname Sapnap had for George would make him snap out of it faster, or would calm him down.

  
  


However, the brunet only continued to sob, burying his face deeper into Dream's bloody chest.

  
  


The sight was horrific and sad, and Sapnap couldn't help but feel helpless, watching as one of his best friends was already dying, while the other one was somewhere on another plane of existence.

  
  


But Sapnap had to push forwards, lest he lost both of them.

  
  


As a final try, he carefully, trying his best to will his shaking hand to a halt, brought it up to George's left cheek, lifting his friend's watery face up. He prayed this wouldn't cause George to freak out more.

  
  


The older boy allowed his head to come up and stared at Sapnap with the most frightened expression the dark brunet had ever seen on him. His widened eyes were bloodshot, thick streaks of tears running down his cheeks and neck, cradling Dream's body like his life depended on it. His breathing was uncoordinated and spontaneous, and he stared at Sapnap as if he wasn't seeing who he was seeing.

  
  


“...George?” He asked again, sensing his two new comrades behind him trying their best not to pass out from the smell and take a good look, with Philza rummaging through his bag and most likely organizing potions with Tubbo's help.

  
  


Sapnap held his breath as he focused on George, the thumb on his cheek softly massaging back and forth.

  
  


Then, Sapnap straight away saw the blue and brown return to George's eyes, this time widening in recognition and hope and relief, before he screamed sluggishly, “ _ Sapnap! _ ”

  
  


“George!” Sapnap yelled back, happy that George was okay.

  
  


“Did you- Was- I- Did you- Potion-” Sapnap shushed him before looking back at the two people behind him, George following his lead, and lighting up upon seeing the potions Philza was holding.

  
  


“You- Thank you, thank you  _ so much- _ ” The relief in his voice made Sapnap realize just how much this probably meant to George. 

  
  


Yes, both of them were hurting, but Sapnap wasn't the one who had to stare at a blood soaked Dream for the past hour. Just the thought itself made Sapnap cringe.

  
  


As if it was his cue, slowly, the bag of potions securely at his side, Philza made his way over to the trio, Tubbo close behind him, cautious of the big magma pool in the middle.

  
  


The man crouched down next to them, Sapnap moving to the side a bit, while George continued to cradle the dirty blond in his hands, watching intently as Philza leaned down with a healing potion in his hands.

  
  


Gently, a sound of a cork  _ pop  _ rang out throughout the warm cave, the sweet smell of glistering melon evaporating into the air. Sapnap gaped at the rising pink smoke from the glass vile, a certain glittery sparkle intertwining with the atmosphere.

  
  


It felt relieving to be able to smell something other than rotten smoke.

  
  


Then, as if taking care of an injured animal, Philza brought the potion to Dream's lips, tilting it slightly, before the liquid medicine slowly poured down his throat. He did intervals, never bringing down the potion too much and risking drowning Dream.

  
  


George, Sapnap and Tubbo watched as the veins in Dream's arms suddenly lit up a faint magenta, a sign that the healing process had started successfully.

  
  


A few seconds later, and the first potion had been downed.

  
  


“With the wounds he has, I estimate that we'll need to make him drink around three to four of these bad boys, but we need to wait a few minutes in between.” Philza explained to George and Sapnap, who were fascinated by life blooming back into Dream's form.

  
  


The dark brunet lightly traced the liquid coursing through his visible veins, watching as leisurely, very steadily, the wounds began to heal in front of his eyes.

  
  


It began with small cuts on his face patching themselves up, disintegrating into nothing, leaving behind clear, smooth skin.

  
  


Then, Philza gave Dream another potion, pouring the pink substance down just the same. With that came bigger and better healing.

  
  


The bruises on his palms reverted back into what they once were before the explosion, and the scratches on his legs and arms were cured, with a few exceptions. Deeper slashes and cuts were left with minimal scars, but they were barely noticeable.

  
  


A third one followed, and then the larger wounds came into play. The gash on his shoulder didn't make either George or Sapnap sick anymore, his hip wasn't in such a bad shape anymore, and the deadliest lesion yet, the gaping hole in his stomach, seemingly appeared as if it was never there, leaving behind only a lighter shade of his skin tone in the form of the wound shape.

  
  


Along the way, George scrupulously removed the rags and cloths for the medicine to properly work, making all four of them wince and cringe at the sight before watching the instant health potions take care of things. Sapnap noted how George seemed the least affected out of all of them, and once more his heart clenched when he realized that the male was the one who had to clean the punctures up, which meant they probably weren't even in their worst stages anymore.

  
  


Finally, Philza fed the dirty blond the last health potion he would hopefully need, and it cleaned up the burn marks that littered the right part of his body. George crossed his index and middle fingers, praying that the scars wouldn't be there once the potion stopped its magic. Sapnap hoped so too.

  
  


Dream's body had taken it well, the burns almost completely gone, minimal damage left behind in the potion's wake. However, his face made Sapnap frown.

  
  


It was better. It was  _ so much better,  _ unbelievably so. But it wasn't how it used to be.

  
  


A scar enveloped the sides of his eye, lighter parts of skin reminding them forever of what had happened. Sapnap saw the sad and disappointed and almost guilty sheen in George's eyes and moved his hand atop George's, making eye contact and signaling that it was okay.

  
  


At the very end of the day, Dream was still alive, and in Sapnap's very honest opinion, that's all that mattered.

  
  


Silently, with Philza's help, the three adults removed the remaining belts and rags. George then took the liberty of cleaning Dream's body from loose dried up blood. Then, after a while of utter silence, George and Sapnap not knowing what to say, Philza understanding that they needed space for a moment, and Tubbo cleaning out the glass vials with a white cloth he had on hand, he suddenly gasped.

  
  


Immediately, Philza gazed back at him in concern, his posture straight, “Tubbo, what's wrong?”

  
  


Sapnap turned his eyes away from Dream and looked at the teenager expectantly, wanting to find out what caused him to have such a reaction.

  
  


The dark brunet found that the boy had been looking around the cave, at the shattered smiley mask shards and pieces, before peering down at Dream in concentration this time, seemingly putting together the dots as his eyes squinted,

  
  


“I'm sorry for asking, but, i-is that Dream?”

  
  


Silence.

  
  


All four people in the room stopped whatever it was they were doing. George lifted his head in record time and Sapnap widened his eyes. Philza raised an eyebrow and Tubbo’s hands started to shake.

  
  


No one said anything.

  
  


After a few seconds, Sapnap spoke up, clearing his throat, “Y-Yes? How do you know him?”

  
  


As if on instinct, George brought Dream closer to him, the hold around his shoulder and waist tightening for a fraction more, dangerously close to leaving indents from his short nails.

  
  


Immediately, Tubbo retracted his statement, “N-No! That's not what I meant! It's just- I met him, earlier today! At the village!”

  
  


Only then did Sapnap's shoulders sag and George took a breath of relief.

  
  


“Oh, okay then. Sorry for reacting so harshly.” George sheepishly trailed off, releasing his deadly grip on the blond, and giving Tubbo as much of a big smile as he could muster.

  
  


“It's completely okay, I understand, I should have been more cautious and not so straight forward, especially since, you know…”

  
  


Sapnap nodded in understanding, equally smiling as much at Tubbo as George had.

  
  


Time slowed down.

  
  


They had talked for a while, the four of them.

  
  


At one point, Sapnap offered to hold Dream instead, seeing George becoming uncomfortable. George took that offer and laughed when he realized he couldn't feel his limbs from how sore and sleepy they were.

  
  


Philza had told them that the healing potions had their pros and cons, as did everything. Apparently, it made consumers sleepy, so he predicted that Dream wouldn't awake for another ten hours, so they didn't have to worry about him being in a coma or limbo state of mind.

  
  


Tubbo told them about how he knew Dream.

  
  


About how the man had helped him realize his dreams (Tubbo laughed at the fraze, commented about how fitting it was towards Dream's character), and  that he was the one that aided Dream in his quest for iron. Philza apparently didn't know that part of the story and wacked Tubbo over the head lightheartedly, saying something along the lines of  _ so if it wasn't for you two, the village wouldn't be under fire!?  _ who shot back with a,  _ well yeah, but it helped both of us in the end! _

  
  


George and Sapnap had chuckled at the pair, both of them happy to see the other smiling and relaxed to some extent.

  
  


As with everything, however, it was time for the duo to leave. The horses were waiting above, probably scared to be in the middle of nowhere and at night, and a quest of their own awaited them. Something about meeting Tubbo's friends who seemed around their age and a buff pig that apparently knew how to wield an axe.

  
  


Neither George nor Sapnap knew whether or not that was sarcasm.

  
  


They had bid farewell however, and Sapnap left George for a second time that night, to help Philza and Tubbo find their way out.

  
  


In a flash, Sapnap was outside and looking at the moon that was nearing too close to the other side of the world. Tubbo tended to their horses while Philza recounted the bottles and vials nearby.

  
  


_ Now,  _ now Sapnap could spot skeletons and zombies roaming around the fields far away on the horizon, scouting the area like angry and thirsty machines, looking for prey, repelled by the light coming out of the cave behind him. It was quiet, save for the occasional  _ neigh  _ from the white and brown horses.

  
  


“Don't worry too much, it's around two or three in the morning, it just looks that way.” Philza reassured him, as if knowing exactly what Sapnap was feeling. It was both comforting and scary. He opened his mouth to ask about it, about how Philza seemed to read emotions so well, but faltered.

  
  


“The moon does that?” He had asked instead.

  
  


“Sometimes. It likes to play just as much as any of us do.”

  
  


“Understandable.” The dark brunet smiled lightly.

  
  


“Well, anywho, your friend will be fine, Sapnap. Neither you or George should worry.”

  
  


Philza's cape swished around him, following his movement, like it always did, and Sapnap found himself frowning.

  
  


“I just,  _ God,  _ thank you two so much, how can we ever repay you? Those potions must have taken forever to create and we robbed them, just like that.” He brought a hand up to his right eye in faint distraught, rubbing it gently.

  
  


Although Philza only laughed, “You think I really care more about some measly health potions that I probably wouldn't even need on the journey, than saving someone's life that was precious to those around them and needed the brew more?”

  
  


Well, when he put it like that, Sapnap couldn't help but chuckle.

  
  


“And don't concern yourselves about 'being in debt' to me or something, seeing the two of you happy that your friend would survive was honestly the best repayment ever. It proved to me that the potions actually did something useful for once, rather than sitting and marinating in a glass bottle for ages not used.”

  
  


Sapnap thought he was gonna cry.

  
  


“You're a good man, you know that, Phil?” He commented, wiping away at his tearing eyes with a laugh, as if embarrassed he was shedding tears.

  
  


When he was embraced in a hug though, Sapnap felt the dam break.

  
  


Iit felt nice to be hugged after such a traumatic event. He mentally noted to himself to hug George as hard as he could once he came back, feeling the stress bleed out of him in waves.

  
  


“Everything will be okay. Me and Tubbo are positive.” Upon hearing his name, Tubbo came marching back from talking to their horses towards the hugging pair, wrapping his hands around Sapnap from behind almost instinctively.

  
  


“Thank you.” Sapnap finally whispered, this time confident in Philza's answer.

  
  


And before long, Sapnap watched as the men in green rode off towards more mountains, following the trail the moon had been taking before, the vague glow of Philza’s bag comforting for an unclear reason.

  
  


But as Sapnap searched for it, he found the bright white dot in the center of the sky, right where it should be at around this hour, and couldn't help but gawk, Philza's voice about playfulness springing around his thoughts.

  
  


He looked at it uneasily, devouring the moon with his silent questions about why it was alone, with only a few stars painting the black canvas in white waves. The stars twinkled at Sapnap, glad to be looked at, to be acknowledged, but the dark brunet only shook his head. Without worrying his mind any more, the young man turned around, and headed back towards George.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“Hey.”

  
  


The simple word fallen from a tired Sapnap made George look up for what felt like the millionth time today.

  
  


“Hi.” He whispered back.

  
  


“Phil said we don't have to worry about him,” Sapnap vaguely gestured towards Dream's unconscious body, but George got the point, “said he's glad he got to help us, that it was the best repainment he could get.”

  
  


George nodded slowly, yawing silently, feeling tears build up in the corners.

  
  


“What time is it?”

  
  


He saw Sapnap freeze, stilling as if he didn't want to say, or as if  _ wanting  _ to say, but not sure how or if he should.

  
  


“Phil told me it was about two or three in the morning, and it looked the part from what I deciphered, so it's a little too late for our usual bedtime.” Sapnap joked after a few ticks, making George crack a smile himself.

  
  


The oldest was still situated at the back of the cave,  _ still _ holding onto Dream as if feeling that if he let go, the man would disappear forever.

  
  


Yes, he did hand Dream over to Sapnap for the time they were conversing with Philza and Tubbo, however, he hadn't made an effort to get up then, too tired and out of it to register the pain in his core and limbs, screaming at him to stand up and stretch at least a little bit.

  
  


Now though, now he could feel it. And it  _ hurt. _

  
  


“Sapnap,” He whined, immediately catching Sapnap's attention who barreled towards him, “can you please take him again? Everything hurts.”

  
  


Despite at once taking Dream from George's hands, he didn't miss jabbing towards the brunet, “You literally could've stood up and stretched before.”

  
  


“Ugh, shut up, okay?” He shot back fondly, groaning when he felt the weight being lifted off his body.

  
  


Like a feline, George extended his legs and arms and heard the horrible pops of his joints, sickly reminding him just how long he had sat there, on the cold hard ground.

  
  


Then, he promptly stood up, feeling relief pour into his bloodstream, before orthostatic hypotension quickly knocked him off his rails. George fell back to lean on the wall, bringing his hand to rest between his eyes and hopefully stop the dizziness and darkness plaguing him.

  
  


“You good?” He heard Sapnap ask from where he, similarly like George, was sitting with his back towards the wall, Dream on his lap.

  
  


“Yeah,” He murmured, “just low blood pressure.”

  
  


When he finally felt better, George pushed himself away from the stone and began walking around, making his legs get a feel for themselves.

  
  


Waddling around, he spotted Dream's torn up hoodie in the corner that he had thrown previously. It made something within George clench, and he had to remind himself that no, Dream wasn't dead; that he was okay.

  
  


Deliberately, he picked it up.

  
  


The spots with most blood were still sticky, in a way that made a shiver run down George's spine and cringe. He avoided touching those areas the most, making sure to evade his gaze.

  
  


But mostly, it was already dry. Covered in dark dark red that contrasted the barely there green.

  
  


“He's gonna need a new hoodie and shirt.” George commented as he turned around from his crouched position, eyes searching for Sapnap's.

  
  


“That he is.” The dark brunet responded.

  
  


“Maybe I'll go to the village in the morning and see what I can do.” The oldest once again spoke, seemingly talking more to himself this time.

  
  


“I'll go with you. Dream will probably be awake by then, he can stay here or come with us too, if he'd like.” Sapnap reasoned, chuckling a bit after the next part, “Even if he'll be naked.”

  
  


The youngest picked at the seams on Dream's ripped up, black jeans, wiping away the gunpowder that stuck on the fabric. He noted that the pants were bloody too, so the blond would most likely need a whole new outfit after this.

  
  


George laughed, dropping the hoodie with a pained heart. It was unsalvageable anyway.

  
  


He watched as Sapnap carefully laid Dream on the ground, making sure there were no pebbles or dirt that could make him uncomfortable as he laid.

  
  


The youngest then stood up and stalked towards George, before wrapping his arms around him and embracing him tightly.

  
  


As if a spell, George immediately fell slack, collapsing his entire body onto Sapnap, part of him guilty, because now the youngest was practically the only thing that stopped him from falling on the ground, part of him absolutely  _ relieved. _

  
  


God, when had a hug felt this nice?

  
  


“Phil hugged me before leaving. Didn't realize how much I needed it. So I figured you'd need one too.” Sapnap said as a means of explanation, and now George realized that yes, he  _ desperately  _ needed this.

  
  


They stayed quiet, with George shakily wrapping his hands around Sapnap's frail frame. He spoke up after a while had passed, “I was so convinced this would be where it ended.”

  
  


It was barely a mutter, quieter than a whisper, but it was said right next to Sapnap's ear, and he heard it all.

  
  


“I thought so too, when I couldn't find anyone in the village for the longest time. I really thought I'd have to come back to you empty handed.” Sapnap whispered back in a chuckle that bordered on jokes and painful reality.

  
  


George buried his head in the dark brunet's shoulder.

  
  


“I thought me and Dream were gonna die before you came.”

  
  


This made Sapnap tense up with fear, “Was that why you were so terrified when I entered the cave with Tubbo and Phil?”

  
  


George gave a slight nod that made Sapnap's chest seize up in regret and sadness.

  
  


“I think it was because I was losing my mind at that point,” George stated reassuringly, not wanting Sapnap to get the wrong idea or make him hate himself.

  
  


That's the last thing he wanted.

  
  


“The blood paired with gunpowder and heat from the lava, as well as having to look at wounds I'm gonna have nightmares about,” He added jokingly, but now George sort of wished he didn't, once he felt the hands on his waist start shaking. He cursed his facetious personality, “I think it wasn't good for my mental health.”

  
  


“For some reason, when I heard you three coming down, I managed to conjure up an image that it was something otherworldly coming to finish the job. The walls were shaking, your footsteps echoed in a way that seemed deadlier than they actually were. I thought that was it, that when you came back, you'd just find us...dead. Both me and Dream.”

  
  


When George felt a sob break through Sapnap's lips he bit his lip harshly.

  
  


_ Dammit _ . He really should have kept that to himself.

  
  


“I'm, I'm so sorry, George. I… I was just trying to get there, there, as fast as I could, because… b-because I thought I was already as late as I, as I could be…” The sobbing increased and so did the hold on George.

  
  


The oldest male held on just as strongly, bringing his hand up to Sapnap's hair and running his fingers through to hopefully calm him down a bit. George felt tears building up behind his eyelids.

  
  


“Sapnap,  _ God,  _ Sapnap, it's okay. It's fine, I'm okay now, you're okay, Dream's okay, we're  _ fine,  _ we're good. There was no way you could have known what was happening, you were rushing because our friend was  _ dying  _ and you wanted to  _ help  _ as soon as possible.”

Sapnap hiccuped, “I know, I know… I just,” A sob broke through his sentence, “I-I just wish you didn't have to witness and do the things you had to do. I wish, I wish, that… that you didn't have to look at Dream covered in blood and scar, and scar yourself like that. I barely did a-anything, anything compared to you… I only got some measly potions while… while you got your hands bloody…”

  
  


George widened his eyes. A few tears slipped through.

  
  


“Sapnap _ , _ ” He started, baffled at the words he heard fall from Sapnap's lips, “ _ Sapnap,  _ what are you saying? Your 'measly' potions ended up being the very things that saved him. Yes, I patched him up, yes, I made sure he wouldn't bleed out to death, but all of that would have been  for _ nothing,  _ had you not found Phil. Without the potions, Dream wouldn't have survived.” George repeated, hoping to get the idea into Sapnap's brain.

  
  


The youngest seemed to be calming down, which made George breathe a sigh of relief.

  
  


“You probably did more than I did.”

  
  


Sapnap lifted his head from George's shoulder.

  
  


“We both did a lot.”

  
  


George smiled.

  
  


“Yeah, we did.”

  
  


Exhaustion quickly fell over both of them, the heat from the lava pool quickly acting as a blanket, finally.

  
  


George felt his eyes droop and his hold slackened on Sapnap.

  
  


Quietly, Sapnap pulled away and grabbed George's hand, leading them back to Dream and plopping them down to finally rest.

  
  


“We have a big day tomorrow.” Sapnap commented and George let his head rest against the youngest's shoulder, finally closing his eyes and feeling the soothing sensation of calm.

  
  


“More big than I want it to be.”

  
  


“We're gonna survive it though.”

  
  


George felt the world around him fade, but he made the effort to respond before he fell headfirst into the deep darkness for good.

  
  


“We will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, comments are appreciated <3

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!


End file.
